Black and Potter
by Black7369
Summary: Remy and Harry have been best friends since the start of Hogwarts. Remy is a murderer's daughter, and Harry is the boy who lived. Their third year will uncover secrets about their past that will change their world. R&R! p.s, it's canon. JK rules.
1. the beginning

It was the thirty-first of October 1981, and a man in a long billowing cloak was carrying a baby girl, nestled in a bundle of blankets, towards a tall, white, daunting London building. It stood out against the dark sky, which twinkled with stars. Artemis Ethelbert hoped it was the right building. The minister had given him explicit instructions of the location of the orphanage. The girl was just a year old, with dark grey-blue eyes and dark curls. He held her tight in his arms, walking up the white stone steps anxiously. Her mother, Louisa Black, had just been killed, and Sirius Black, her now infamous father, was a follower of Voldemort. He was a criminal, who had betrayed sweet Lily and James Potter, causing their deaths. Young Harry Potter, their son, had miraculously survived. The dark lord had fallen. But there was still so much death and tragedy for both the Blacks and the Potters. Now, this small child was being abandoned at an orphanage with nothing left of her life. Forgotten and alone. It killed him to think that he was the one to carry out this horrendous task of abandonment. But it wasn't Ethelbert's decision to take her here: he was only an auror, doing as the minister of Magic instructed. He was to take the child and meet Albus Dumbledore at the orphanage.

"Good Evening, Ethelbert," said a voice. He spun around and came face to face with none other than albus Dumbledore, peering at him over his half moon spectacles, his white beard trailing to the floor, dressed in eccentric purple robes.

"I have just returned from delivering Harry Potter to his relatives. It is such a sad business indeed, losing not just Lily and James Potter but Louisa Black, too," he said solemnly. "Young Remy is unharmed, I am presuming?"

"Terrible, indeed. Yes, she's ok. Is there no other option for her?" Ethelbert whispered, indicating the child in his arms.

"I am afraid not. She has no remaining relatives. If one does happen to reveal his or her self, they will be notified of young Remy's whereabouts. The minister will not allow her to be placed in the custody of Remus Lupin; he does not think that he will be suitable, being a 'half-breed'.

In the meantime, this is our only choice," he sighed, apparently not impressed with Cornelius Fudge's opinion.

Ethelbert felt a surge of hot anger.

"Imagine- Black, that traitor, doing all those terrible things- being a death eater, betraying his friends- when he had a child! Doesn't he care that she's going to be abandoned? That his wife is now dead, thanks to him?" he said furiously. He stared down at the child, still sleeping serenely, unaware of her fate.

"I know, Artemis, I know. It's awful."

"I hope we catch him. We'll give him straight to the dementors. He doesn't deserve a soul," spat Ethelbert.

"He has caused much tragedy tonight, in such a selfish way, I agree. And when he is found, justice will take its toll. Shall we go inside?"

"I suppose," sighed Ethelbert. They opened the doors to reveal a large reception room. The walls were all marble, and the floor was stone. One desk sat to the left, unoccupied, papers scattered everywhere.

Dumbledore took the baby from Ethelbert's arms and set her down in a basket beside the desk.

"You have the paperwork? The note? What do we need? Will they keep her safe?" asked Ethelbert sharply.

"I have everything here," said Dumbledore calmly, pulling some papers and a note out of his robes and tucking them in beside Remy. "These papers will explain everything. They will take good care of her, I am sure," he finished assuringly.

Ethelbert noticed that there was a dainty gold chain baring a locket around the girl's neck. It was small and oval shaped, with a dark blue sapphire imbedded in it. She looked angelic as she slept on, delicate, dark-lashed eyes closed, oblivious to the tragedy that had struck her world. She was truly a beautiful baby.

"Goodbye, young Remy, for now. I have a feeling that we will meet again in the not-so-distant future. Until then, take care," said Dumbledore, pulling the blanket further over the child. Ethelbert's throat felt constricted with emotion. With pity for the girl.

"Goodbye, Remy," he said softly, taking one last look at her, so peaceful and unspoiled, and then followed Dumbledore out into the dark night.


	2. Remy

**Redo of Chapter two. Sorry I keep on redoing things, but I had to anti-sue her a bit... hehehe. **

Long chapter!

I love reviews!

**Disclaimer: if you really desperately want to read a disclaimer, go to any Harry Potter fan fiction disclaimer and insert here.**

_A vision: She was walking down the dark street, excitement pulsing in her veins. But they weren't her veins. She travelled in someone else's body, and she knew not what had instigated this person's anticipation. The lights in the house were on. A silhouette of a woman, a man and her child could be seen in the window. She was going to murder. The night she'd been waiting for. He was almost there…Far behind her, she saw a dark outline of a tall dark-haired man, running into his house. His footsteps were hard and fast, and she sensed despair in his atmosphere. She was overcome by a sudden thrill at the discovery that this man must be distraught. Her final destination lay ahead. But she, Remy had no idea what this place meant or who she was. The only emotion overpowering her was excitement. This cruel person was set on destroying anything in his path, and she tried to break free of the vision, with all her might-_

Remy's eyes flew open, the sudden light of her room blinding her like a flash. She sat up, breathing heavily, and felt around, disoriented, for something, anything, to prove she was really awake. When her eyes adjusted, she found she was in her small wooden floored bedroom, sitting in her cosy and familiar red and gold bed. The sunlight filtered through her small square window, making light patterns on the wooden floorboards. Everything was normal.  
Remy Black, however, was a very odd witch. For one thing, she had always had strange, reoccurring visions, of things she could barely understand. She recognized some voices and places, but only vaguely. Whenever she awoke from a vision, the recognition was forgotten. Her other ability however, was not so much of a secret. Her and her best friend, Harry Potter, could communicate with each other using their minds. No-one else knew about this. Harry and Remy liked to keep it to themselves, as not to make others uncomfortable. She was also a Transamagus, meaning she could glide through solid objects. She didn't like showing off this talent, and few knew about it.

She climbed out of bed and made her way over to her mirror with a reluctant expression, prepared for the usual sight. At thirteen, she was very thin and young-looking. She stood tall and unintentionally haughty-looking, her dark, carelessly elegant curls toppling over her shoulders to the small of her back. Her facial features were angular on her chalky white skin. Her eyes were dark and shadowed, contrasting with her skin; the colour of her eyes was hard to describe. They were a dark, stormy grey with a hint of deep blue. Around her neck hung a dainty gold chain with an oval shaped locket, a sapphire imbedded in the centre. She had owned it all her life, hadn't ever taken it off, or been able to open it. It was a mysterious thing, that she had apparently been brought to the orphanage with it on, yet had never opened it.

No spell had ever worked. Remy scowled at her aristocratic visage. One glance, and you would know she came from the Black family. The family from which she had been practically disowned and abandoned, left with their distinct genetics to single her out when she most wanted to blend in with other witches and wizards. Grabbing her slingshot, her most prized possession, and shoving it in her pocket, she hurried down the stairs.

At the breakfast table, she found her uncle Remus, slumped over tiredly, staring out the window in deep thought: it had been the full-moon last night. He was a werewolf- but that didn't bother her. For someone so young, he looked old. His thick brown hair was graying, and his kind young face was scarred and exhausted. Nonetheless, his face lit up at the sight of her. Remus had rescued her from the London orphanage when she was six years old; the orphanage being the place Remy had spent her life from age one to six. It was a horrible place: Remy didn't like remembering it.

"Hi Uncle Remus," she said, taking a seat at the table. "How are you feeling?" she asked, taking a seat beside him and taking his hand.

"Much better, thank you. Are you alright? You look a little tense," he said, his eyes narrowing in concern. Remy raised an eyebrow.

"Werewolf's intuition, eh? I'm ok, just had a bad night's sleep," she said airily. "What do you want to eat? My cooking isn't that bad, is it?" she asked anxiously at the look on his face.

"It's not that, Remmia. You were talking in your sleep last night, you know," he said frowning.

"Was I? Cool. What did I say?"

"You were saying something like 'there they are' and that you were almost there, and that you were going to kill someone and some other stuff…"

Remy shrugged and grabbed an apple.

"Maybe I had a dream I killed Snape?" she suggested, taking a bite. Remus laughed.

"I know the idea is tempting, but please don't kill Snape. I don't want you to get arrested just yet. Do you have any plans for today? Are you seeing the Weasleys at all? Harry?" he asked.

"Hmmm…Let me just check my busy schedule," she said sarcastically, taking a book of the bench at random and flipping through it in mock concentration. She had been complaining about being lonely all summer (about two weeks).

"Remy… that's your History of Magic notebook," sighed Remus.

"Oh yeah, then why aren't there any notes in it?" she asked with stubborn superiority.

"That's exactly what I would like to know," he said, raising his eyebrows. Remy bit her lip and tossed it aside.

"Breakfast time!" she said brightly, hopping to her feet. She started making bacon and eggs in the kitchen.

"Remy, how about you ask someone to come and stay?" Remus called to her from the breakfast table as she tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the bacon to cook.

"Really? Could I?" she asked.

"Of course, I'm perfectly happy to- Rem, how many times have I told you not to do that?" he said sharply, as Remy began absently firing pebbles towards the neighbours' house out the window with her slingshot.

"Sorry, but I'm bored! Could I have Harry stay? And Ron when he gets back from Egypt?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Hey uncle Remus, you know when you transform into a werewolf?"

"I think I might know, yes," he said sardonically.

"Well, you know how I can sometimes make that potion that turns me temporarily into an animal of my choice, and every full moon I'm stuck inside this house with the door locked so I won't get my head ripped off? Well _maybe _if I was a dog, I could go outside and do _something, _at least, instead of sitting around here-"

"No," he said sternly. "Not in a million years. And you're usually inside this house every night with the door locked, aren't you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Um… yeah, of course," she said nervously. "But back to the point, it's so boring when I'm here alone! If I could just go out for a little while-"

"For the millionth time, Remy, I said no! I'm not putting you in danger. You could _die, _for Merlin's sake! You think I'm going to take that risk? You're too much like your father…" he muttered. Remy stormed out to him, leaving the breakfast burning.

"Am I? Well too bad I don't know what that is," she said heatedly. He said nothing but continued to stare at her.

"Sorry," she mumbled after a moment, and walked quickly back into the kitchen. He was probably far too tired to have a row, and Remy felt bad for getting angry.  
He wasn't really her uncle. He had been one of her father's best friends. The only reason she hadn't been put in his care after her mother died was that he was a werewolf. He never told her about what happened to her parents. Remy had parents. There was no doubt about that. Only her father, Sirius Black, was in prison for murder, and her mother had been killed by Voldemort when Remy was a year old. If only she could meet them, just see them one last time, and ask them why? Why did they leave her? Why did her mother die? Why did her father throw away his life and abandon her? Why did he turn to Voldemort when Voldemort had killed his wife? What about Remy? Didn't he care if she lived or died, or was sent to some orphanage the night he was sent to Azkaban? She saved breakfast just in time, and began to load it onto two plates.

Without speaking, still full of silent rage, she placed the plate down in front of her uncle.

"Thanks, sweet heart. What would I do without you?" he said gratefully, smiling at her. She managed half a smile, and walked briskly up the stairs, her own breakfast forgotten.

Upstairs, she paced around her room in an unspoken angry tirade, grabbing things out of drawers and stuffing them back in again pointlessly. All those thoughts about her parents had been stirred up from the deepest part of her memory, and were floating around her head, provoking her temper. She was about to pull open a drawer on her bedside table when her eyes fell upon an old photograph of two very happy people. Louisa Black had shimmering, straight blonde hair, and gorgeous sapphire blue eyes. Her bubbly smile seemed to light up everything around her. The man in the photograph, who had his arms wrapped around beautiful Louisa, twirling her around playfully, looked at his wife in adoration, then up at the camera, beaming proudly. Sirius Black was Remy's male, 20 year old double. From his haughty manner and shadowed aristocratic features, to the dark, grey colour of his eyes, everything about him was the same as her.

"Happy?" she said to the photo quietly. "You call yourselves my parents. Did you know that my favourite colour is dark blue? Did you know that I love motorbikes? Did you know that my best friend's name is Harry Potter? Did you know that I play Chaser in Quidditch? Did you know that I can't concentrate unless I'm chewing on something? Did you know that I can't sleep with the door closed? Do you know anything?" she said, her voice shaking. She put the photo face down, not bearing to see what she had missed out on in life. Her mum and dad.

"No. and you never will," she said angrily.

Later that night, she was sitting on her bed, when her jet black owl flew past her window and into the tree beside her room with a crash and a _squawk!_ He must have been returning a letter from Harry, Ron or Hermione, as Remy had used him to send them letters a couple of days ago.

"Stupid idiot, Finchy…" Remy muttered. After using her slingshot to knock Finchy out of the tree, Remy leant out the window and caught him, grabbing the letter he had tied to his foot.

_Remy, I've just blown up my aunt Marge, and Uncle Vernon exploded. Not literally. I've been kicked out of the house and I'm at the park across the road from number four privet drive. It's a little creepy. I've just seen a stray dog, which barked its head off at me then disappeared, and there could be loads of other things worse, like hobos. Will you help me? I'll understand if you're too busy, or not allowed to. I don't know where I'm supposed to go, and I'm about to be expelled for using magic anyway. I can't go back to the Dursleys', so for now, I'm stuck here. Sorry to write so late, but it's an emergency._

_Harry._

She snatched up a quill and some parchment and began to write.

_Harry, _

_Of course I'll help you, what do you take me for? Don't move, I'm on my way. _

_Remy._

Remy didn't know where the adrenaline was coming from, but her heart was racing as she wrenched open the window and climbed out into her tree-house, before descending to the ground. She ran up the countryside road in her worn out sandals and black clothing, towards her neighbour Mob's house. Mob (whose name was Michael Robert Willow) was a fifteen year old wizard who lived a couple of houses up, and who was obsessed with muggle mechanics. Remy had bought her motorbike from him, and, being the kind, generous person he was, he let her keep it in his garage so her uncle wouldn't see it. He had charmed it to fly for her. Upon reaching his house, she fired some small stones at his window with her slingshot, and on the second one, a sleepy, dishevelled Mob poked his scruffy teenage head out the window.

"Remy?" he whispered. "Hey, kiddo! What might you need at ten o'clock at night?" he asked with a grin.

"Motorbike," she hissed, pointing to the garage.

"OK, I'll come unlock it for you!" he whispered back. A few moments later, the garage door opened, revealing Mob, two hot looking cars, and Remy's motorbike, which was black and navy blue.

"Thanks, Mob, you're an angel," she gasped in relief when he handed her the ignition keys.

"No problem. Stay safe, and don't get caught doing anything illegal." He winked, and went back inside. Remy wheeled her motorbike out onto the front lawn, closed the garage door, and mounted the bike. She was about to do a very Remy-like thing. Grinning, she set off to where she hoped was number four, privet drive, Surrey.

It took her no time at all to get to surrey, where, with the help of street signs, she found number four, privet drive. She landed near it, at the park Harry said he would be at. Sure enough, there he sat, alone, on the side of the road, Hedwig, his trunk and his broom beside him. The noise of the bike must have frightened him, as he looked up at her, startled and wide-eyed.

"Remy! You came! And trust you to arrive on a blooming motorbike! Wow!" he gasped, staring at her and the bike from head to foot. Harry looked as short and skinny as ever, his messy jet black hair covering his scar, and glasses covering his startlingly bright, green eyes.

"Come on, boy who lived, lets get you back to my place," said Remy eagerly, and Harry, beaming at her, jumped on the back of the bike.

"Have you told your uncle I'm coming to your place?!" Harry shouted over the roar of the engine once they were in the air.

"Er- I haven't got around to that yet! I sort of just left in a spur-of-the-moment thing! We're almost there, how bout you help me think of an excuse?" she shouted back. She heard him chuckle. Remy was known for doing reckless and spontaneous things, and acting before thinking.

"I'm sure he won't mind!" Remy re-assured him, but not whole-heartedly.

"You could have came on a broom, you know, or got your uncle to bring you. It would have been much safer," said Harry.

"Fun before safety, Harry. Don't you ever learn?"

"Remy- _watch out!" _screamed Harry over the noise, pointing in horror at something over Remy's shoulder.

"What? What is it- CRAP!" They were hurtling at full speed towards a small brown house nestled in a meadow- Remy's house. She tried automatically to turn off in the other direction- but that only drove her more towards the side of the house-

CRASH.

They went flying into the side of the house with a deafening crunch. They slid down the side of the house fast and noisily, closing their eyes, hoping they would still be alive when they hit the ground. A sharp pain in her side told Remy that she had been thrown off the bike and onto the ground on her side, Harry right next to her. The bike stood next to them, apparently unharmed, but smoking slightly, with a dent in the side.

"No! My bike!" whispered Remy in horror.

"Shouldn't you be more worried about our own well-being, Remy?" asked Harry disbelievingly.

"Well being? _Well being? _Harry, look at my bike! Look at that dent in the side! Can't you even see it? If you could, you'd throw your bloody 'well-being' out the damned window!" She raved, and then bent over the bike, trying hopelessly to smooth out the imperfection.

They climbed through Remy's window using the tree-house beside it.

"Wow. Thank you so much, Remy, I don't know what I would have done," gasped Harry after hoisting himself through the window and into Remy's cozy bedroom. "Now, erm, what are we going to do about your uncle?"

"Yes, Remy, what are you going to do about your uncle?" a sarcastic voice said from the doorway. Remy's heart froze.

"Hello, Uncle Remus," said Remy cheerfully to her uncle, who was standing expectantly in the doorway, eyebrows raised. "You know how you said I could have a friend come and stay? Well… this is Harry." She said sheepishly, clapping Harry on the back.

"Remmia Black, how on earth did you get to Surrey and back in twenty minutes?" Remus demanded.

"Er- broom?" she tried.

"Your broom has been here this entire time."

"Has it?" she said, a note of hysteria in her voice.

"You rode that motorbike, didn't you." Remy wondered vaguely whether she should have been concerned that it wasn't a question.

"Er- Harry can stay, right?"

"Yes, Harry is perfectly welcome for as long as he pleases. But for Merlin's sake, get rid of that motorbike, will you? What if a muggle had seen you!" he said, looking at her incredulously. "Don't let me see you with that dangerous, foolish contraption ever again, you hear?"

"I won't," Remy sighed.

"Good," he said, and walked out of the room.

"Let you see," murmured Remy after he had gone. Harry grinned.

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	3. escaped!

_Chapter 3! sorry it's so short, I'll put four on in a second. _

This is for my only reviewer, johanna Black (come on, people, all you have to do is type a couple of words into a box and click 'submit review'!)

disclaimer: etc, etc....

enjoy!

_She was a small child, and she was frightened. She saw her mother's flash of blonde hair before she swept out the door, and then Remy waited in fear. Out he window, she saw a tremor of movement, then a sweeping figure in a black cloak approaching something to the right, near where her mother must have been right about then…then came a flash of blinding green light, a swish of blonde hair falling to the ground… and the ear-splitting scream that never left Remy… then the pain in her head became extreme- but she battled on, wanting to know what came next. She waited in painful anticipation and horror, and after what seemed like an age, she heard hurried footsteps approaching the house… then a man's sobbing… more footsteps- the man was about to come into the room- but then everything went black…_

Another bloody vision. Remy was really getting sick of them after all these years. They had only been happening since she was eleven, and ever since about a week ago, they had been more painful and distressing than ever. That morning, the 20th of August, Remy awoke, feeling rather dazed. Her mother had been in that vision. All she wanted right then was to go back and see her. Instead of brooding over it, she tip-toed in next-door to awake Harry and Ron, whose bodies made dark shapes in the beds of the dimly lit spare-room.

"Wake up, you guys, I want to play Quidditch!" she said eagerly from the doorway. No reply. She sighed and pulled out her slingshot and fired an owl treat at Ron's head. It hit right on target.

"AARGH! What the- Remy! Don't _do _that! Ruddy hell…" said a startled Ron, sitting up in bed, wide eyed, rubbing his head. Ron Weasley, Remy's other best friend, was tall and gangly with red hair and freckles.

The noise had awoken Harry, who sat up and rubbed his eyes, then put on his glasses.

"Remy, it's seven o'clock! You're turning into Oliver Wood!" said Ron loudly.

"Good morning!" sang Remy loudly, jumping onto Harry's bed. "I just really feel like Quidditch, OK? Want to fly up to the burrow and ask Fred and George to play?"

"OK, sounds good," said Harry, springing out of bed. Ron groaned and they laughed at him. They had been playing Quidditch, playing jokes on Percy, mucking around in the backyard, playing exploding snap and flying to keep themselves entertained over the holidays. Remy had to admit that Remus was a very good host for her friends. The burrow wasn't that far away, and they spent their time either at Remy's or Ron's.

"Hey Uncle Remus, what are you staring at?" asked Remy as she, Harry and Ron ran down to the breakfast table. He was sitting there, in his chair, staring wide-eyed at the front cover of the _daily prophet_, not moving. The three of them took a seat.

"What are you staring at?" she repeated, looking at him curiously.

No answer.

"Uncle Reeemusss?" she sang, waving a hand in front of his face. He didn't move.

"Maybe he's still mad at you for flying your motorbike?" suggested Ron.

"That was ages ago, Ron. Get with the times," snapped Remy.

"Hey Uncle Remus, I accidentally smashed up the neighbours car. You should see it. It used to be 3 meters long, now it's 1. I killed the neighbours' cat. I accidentally took Mob's little brother's eye out with my slingshot. I lost your Gringotts key. I blew up the bathroom."

"Give up, Remy, he's not paying attention," said Harry.

"No, I really did do all those things," said Remy seriously.

Remus looked up at her.

"Hey, that woke him up!" she said cheerfully, patting him on the back. "I… er, I was kidding about all that stuff, by the way…What were you staring at?"

He simply handed her the newspaper and put his head in his hands. Remy stared down at it, and looking back up at her with a scowl of pure malevolence, was her very own father. The heading read:

SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPES FROM AZKABAN.

He was unrecognisable. His dark hair was matted, tangled and filthy, and his skin was waxy, the familiar eyes shining out of their sockets. So unlike the handsome man in the photograph beside her bed. Remy's jaw fell open, and her breathing came in quick shallow gasps. The shock was too great. How would she deal with being at school, when everyone there would know who she was and that she was the daughter of this monstrous murderer? That in her veins flowed the blood of a relentless killer? She dropped the newspaper and looked at her uncle in panic, who placed a hand on her arm consolingly. Harry took the newspaper curiously and he and Ron, undoubtedly seeing what she just had, stared at each other, mouths hanging open.

"He's- he's your f-" Ron began, but was interrupted.

"My father? Yeah," said Remy aggressively, standing up and snatching the newspaper out of his hands. "I always told you he was a murderer. What's the big surprise?" she snapped.

"Remmia," Remus warned, but she waved him off. Ron was staring at Remy in shock

"No, Remy- its just, well, no-one in history has _ever _escaped from Azkaban," said Ron quietly. "What- what did he do, anyway?" he added, glancing at Remus as he spoke, who had his head in one hand.

"Killed some muggles and one of his best friends. And he joined Voldemort, even when it was Voldemort who murdered my mum. Judge me, I don't care," she said shakily, turning away.

They were silent for a while as Remy glared at them. She knew she must have shocked them: she never spoke about her parents.

"Remy, don't jump to conclusions. We love you, and no stupid murderer could ever change that. Who cares if he's your father?" said Harry soothingly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I care!" she choked, spinning round and staring angrily into his face.

"Well you shouldn't," said a voice behind her. It was Remus, who was finally speaking. "Black did a terrible thing, but his daughter, however, did not. You're a different person to him. You shouldn't let him change the way you or anybody else sees you."

Remy contemplated this. His words had certainly calmed her down, but she stared on into Harry's eyes, not looking back at Remus. Harry was looking at her concernedly, compassion in his bright green eyes. It was then, she realised, that they didn't care who her father was. Remus, Harry, Ron, and no doubt Hermione, were her real family. In some cases, it was love that mattered, not blood.

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	4. the train

**here's chapter 4. how speedy was that? this one's about the train.  
I hope you can understand the P.O.V's... No really, I mean it- I'd be worried about you if you couldn't. I've made them fairly straightforward...  
Review me!  
Disclaimer: **I hereby disclaim everything I legally can and should.

**p.s,**_ italics_** Remy and Harry's thoughts to eachother. they can read eachother's minds!**

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_Harry P.O.V_

Harry thought about Sirius Black, the escaped convict, rather a lot; he couldn't get that face out of his head, nor could he stop comparing him to Remy. When he, Remy, Ron and Lupin arrived in Diagon alley, he caught sight of that very face at every shop window he passed, snarling at him from the wanted poster. There was no mistaking those eyes. Dark and shadowed, expression so deep Harry couldn't fathom their emotion. They screamed Remy all over.

His black matted hair and white chalky skin was the same as hers too. But Harry tried to avoid making the comparison.

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Before Harry went to bed on the thirty-first, bidding goodnight to the Weasleys, Remy and Hermione (who met them in Diagon Alley after returning from France), he overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing through their bedroom door.

"Don't you go telling the poor boy! It'll just traumatize him, _and _it'll make things ten times worse for little Remy, look at her! She's stressed out enough already!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. Harry moved closer to their door, listening closely. Harry felt a stab of pity for Remy, remembering how surly and morose she had become since finding out about her father's escape.

"He can't go to Hogwarts oblivious to the fact that Sirius Black's out to kill him! He'll go out wandering with Remy- you know what those two are like. And imagine what Black will do if he finds the two of them? They're always together, Molly. Never apart!"

_Never apart… _Harry thought to himself.

"And if you _do_ tell him, they'll go looking for Black, do you want that?!"

Harry pulled away from the door, heart beating fast.

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"Look, Rodger, it's Black!"

"You reckon she's his daughter?"

"There's no mistaking it. Look at her, for god's sake. She's an image of him."

Hissed conversations were drifting through the Hogwarts express as Harry, Remy, Ron and Hermione walked past, searching for a compartment. Remy may as well have had a permanent scowl on her face, the number of times she had glared murderously at people that day, after overhearing their whispers about her.

"I'm going to curse someone," snarled Remy through gritted teeth, brandishing her wand.

"Just ignore it, Remy," said Hermione soothingly. "The whispers will die down soon enough. Just pretend you can't hear them."

Remy shrugged moodily.

Harry was debating over whether he should tell them what he had overheard. Knowing Remy, doing so might result in her chucking a tantrum and storming off, hexing an innocent bystander in her anger (which already had a very high chance of happening), or sinking into a downwards spiral of surly depression. Then again, she might be angry if he didn't tell her. They stopped outside a compartment that was empty except for Remy's guardian, Remus Lupin, who was sleeping against the window.

_Harry, you're hiding something, _Remy thought to him.

_How do you know that?_

_Your face._

_What about my face?_

_It's screwed up in concentration. You look like you're trying to figure out something really difficult, like how Filch got his job._

Harry sniggered.

"What is it, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Hey, it's uncle Remus. I wondered where he went," said Remy, changing the subject

"Think he's asleep?" asked Harry

"He seems to be, yes." said Remy.

"I need to tell you something." _Told you you were hiding something, Harry! Come on, spill the beans! _urged Remy. Harry closed the door.

Remus went on sleeping.

"Is that your uncle, Remy?" asked Hermione, sitting down next to Ron, opposite Harry and Remy.

"Yeah, He's teaching at Hogwarts."

"What's he teaching again?" said Ron.

"What do you think, Ron? There's only one position left, defence against the dark arts." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

_Duuuh, _thought Remy.

"What were you going to tell us Harry?" asked Hermione.

Harry told them about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's argument. Ron looked appalled, and Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth, looking from Remy to Harry in shock. Remy, however, looked livid and said nothing, glaring at her uncle.

"Be careful Harry, _please_, don't go looking for Black," said Hermione worriedly.

"How thick would Harry have to be to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" muttered Remy into her arms, as she was sitting hugging her looked like she wanted to comfort her, but wasn't sure if she could.

"But if we're with Harry, Black wouldn't try and kill him, would he?" But Hermione kicked Ron in the foot as he spoke, and changed the subject to Hogsmeade, a village that students were allowed to visit. Harry told the other three he wasn't allowed to go because his uncle hadn't signed the form. The look on Remy's face reminded Harry of when she had punched Malfoy in the face on their first ever day at Hogwarts.

"I'd kill your Uncle if I could…" she snarled.

_I wouldn't try and stop you. _

Professor Lupin stirred in his sleep as Remy spoke.

"I've never known anyone to sleep for so long."

Crookshanks hissed, as a strange hissing noise came from above.

"What's that?"

"It's my sneakoscope," explained Harry. "I don't know why it would be going off, though…"

"It's probably that wretched cat of yours, Hermione. I'm telling you, keep it away from Scabbers…" said Ron, glaring at Hermione's bandy legged ginger cat, whose yellow eyes were glaring in turn at Ron's pocket, in which Scabbers lay.

Then everything went strangely cold and empty….. The lights in the compartment went off- what was going on? It felt like a warm happy substance was being drained out of him, leaving him with nothing but a miserable icy feeling.

"What the f-" started Remy.

"Remy! You just stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry Ron-"

"Neville?"

"No- don't sit here! You'll sit on crook-"

"MEEEOOOW"

"Sorry Crookshanks..."

"Quiet!" said Professor Lupin into the darkness of the compartment.

"Hey, Uncle Remus-"

"Shush, Remy!"

None of them spoke. Then, a black cloaked figure glided through the door, its rotting stench filling the compartment. Lupin stood up, his wand illuminated. Harry felt Remy shudder next to him-

_What IS that! Harry- Harry watch out, holy crap- _the creature was coming down on him, and a wave of cold spread through him. It lowered its hood and swooped down on him… Harry heard a scream and knew no more.

_------------------------------------------------------_

_Remy P.O.V_

_She was standing in a blue cot, tiny hands clutching the bars. She was all alone again, in the familiar living room, and the only things she could see were its interior. It was dark outside. She suddenly felt fear rising from the pit of her stomach. This person, Remy pulled together from the strands of sense she could grasp in this strange vision, was missing somebody. And it was destroying her. Scaring her. She felt weak, unprotected and vulnerable. Then, a woman's piercing scream came from outside. It split the air, ripping through her senses. A flash of green outside in the obscure darkness, a sweep of something dark next to a flash of blonde hair- then pitch black once more-_

Then Remy heard a distant scream- a woman's scream, different to the last. She couldn't see anything. The woman was screaming… "_Harry! no, not Harry!"_

Remy could feel herself shaking as she jolted back into consciousness. She could barely breathe, and groped around in the darkness for something, _anything. _Her head was throbbing in pain. She realised with fear that Harry was lying motionless on the floor as Remus held his wand up to the dementor hovering beside her.

"None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go." It didn't move, so he shot a patronus out of his wand, and it backed out of the compartment. The lights came back on. Remy threw a look at her uncle, still shaken by the vision.

"Uncle Remus, did- did someone s-scream?" she managed.

"No, are you alright?" he said concernedly.

"I'm fine," she snapped, remembering that he had neglected to tell her that her father was out to murder her best friend. Remy leant down next to Harry with Ron and Hermione and tried to wake him up. She noticed Neville had come in and was sitting opposite Remus, looking very pale.

"What's going on?" Harry's green eyes opened. Remy flung her arms around her best friend.

"Harry! Are you okay?"

"Yeah… who screamed?" Hermione looked at him oddly.

"No-one screamed, Harry."

"I heard it too, Harry," Remy said, my voice breaking slightly.

_I had a- I mean I heard a woman being killed, and then she screamed…then another woman, screaming your name... _Remy thought at him

_Yeah, I just heard a woman, screaming my name, then I… did you faint?_

_Yeah._

_Me too._

_I know, that's why you're on the floor._

The silence was broken by Uncle Remus breaking a slab of chocolate into pieces. Eating was the last thing on her mind.

"What was that thing?" Harry asked him.

"A dementor," said Remus, "one of the guards of Azkaban Prison. It was searching the train for Sirius Black." Remy's heart gave a sickening jolt at that name.

"Are you sure you're alright, Harry?" asked Uncle Remus, handing everyone a piece of chocolate. "Eat this, trust me, you'll feel better." He added as everyone except Remy took a bite.

"Yeah… I'm fine," muttered Harry. He looked embarrassed. "Are you sure no-one screamed?" he said, probably just being safe.

"Positive. Everything went really cold though… Like I'd never be cheerful again…" said Ron, his voice trailing off.

"That's what they're supposed to do. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have a word with the driver. And I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know, Adara." said Remus sternly, turning around before he left the compartment

"I'm not hungry, I feel sick. I just fainted, uncle Remus."

"I said, eat. You won't feel sick anymore."

Remy stuck her tongue out at him as he left.

"Adara?" asked Ron.

"It's my name. My _real_ name. Remmia's my middle name, but I'm going to try and legally switch the two around. And remember, it's Remy. Don't try to call me anything else or I'll kill you, and it will be personal." Ron shrugged, and Remy took a bite of the chocolate. Warmth spread through her at once. Harry sat beside Remy, and she took his hand, which felt like ice. As she did, she felt another ache of pain, and clapped her hand to the back of her head. A noise like metal scraping against metal was piercing her ears, making her head throb uncomfortably.

"Are you ok?" asked Ron, leaning towards her as if she was about to faint again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry," she said airily, pretending to have been smoothing down her hair. Which she never did.

At last, after another twenty minutes, the train pulled into the station. They were home. Everyone filed out onto the platform, wrapping coats around themselves to avoid the bitter cold. They heard Hagrid calling the first years, a yearly tradition, and many older boys wolf-whistling and making seductive comments at Remy. Another tradition. As they made their way toward the carriages, Remy's eyes drifted casually to a bunch of fourth or fifth year boys trailing not-too far behind them, elbowing each other and hissing competitive arguments at each other. Remy felt she was either not in the mood, or wanted to ignore them to tempt them further.

"Hey Black, do you want to come in our carriage?" called one of them as Remy was about to climb into Harry, Ron and Hermione's carriage. Remy turned her head and raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"And what can your seemingly spectacular carriage offer me that this one can't?" she asked casually, before giving him a taste of her killer grin. Without waiting for a response, she swiftly climbed into the carriage.

"You've got them wrapped around your little finger, haven't you?" said Hermione disapprovingly. Remy shrugged.

"Must be the legs," Ron surmised. Hermione and Remy both glared at him for different reasons.

"What? They're hot! You can't deny-"

"Shut up, Ron, my legs belong to someone else at present."

"Who?"

"Ron, shut up."

*

Remy was worried. her visions had never been so painful and detailed. and her head ached, like somebody was trying to split her skull in half with an axe. She replayed the vision over and over again in her head on the way to the castle. It was haunting her. The last moments of her mother's life… and her voice. The voice she would never truly hear again.

_______________________________________________________________

hope you liked it.

=]

r-e-v-i-e-w


	5. classes

**Howdy. i'd just like to remind everyone that this is canon, so don't expect anything that is totally, completely, mind-blowingly 'out there'. people expecting Harry and Remy to be abducted by aliens, for instance,**** will be thoroughly disappointed.  
****chap 3!  
disclaimer: you know the drill. J.K rules. I suck. she owns all. I own Remy.**

**A/N. the point of the story is mainly centred around Harry and Remy's minds and the way they connect, and figuring out what it could possibly mean. **

Harry, Remy, Ron and Hermione's first class was Divination. It took a while for them to find the room, but eventually they came to an empty corridor. The rest of the class were gathered around an empty space

"I see…. Well, this has been fun, but I have much more exciting things to do-" said Remy cheerily.

"As do I," agreed Harry, turning to leave with her, when a ladder descended from a trapdoor in the ceiling.

"Oh…" said Remy. The classroom above them had a dim red glow, and looked like a cross between a teashop and an attic. Puzzled, Harry and Remy took a seat at a round table, Ron and Hermione at another.

"Welcome!" said a mystical voice from the shadows. Ron almost fell out of his seat as a tall, thin bespectacled woman entered her classroom, covered in numerous beaded necklaces and shawls. Her enormous glasses seemed to magnify her eyes so that they bulged out of her face.

"Sit, my children, sit! My name is Professor Trelawney. Please come forward to receive your mugs, as we will be studying tea leaves today…" the class obeyed.

"My boy, when you break your second cup, please be sure to pick one of the blue ones out of the storage cupboard out the back. I'm rather attached to the pink ones." She advised to Neville, who looked startled. Remy frowned in concentration.

"Neville isn't going to break his cup until after Pavarti and Dean do, and by that time there won't be any blue ones left, so you're wasting your time." She said sceptically.

Trelawney stared at her. "What did you say?"

"I didn't know being a Seer disabled your hearing proficiency," she muttered. "I said there won't be any blue cups left."

"How do you know?"

The odd thing was, Remy didn't actually know _how _she knew. The answer had just popped into her head, and every part of her mind was telling her that she was right.

"I… saw it? Isn't that supposed to be what we're learning in this class?"

Everyone was staring at her. Trelawney frowned at her.

"I don't think you would be able to predict anything at this level in your divination education" she said.

"Okey dokey, then," said Remy, humouring her. Trelawney turned to the class.

"Okay… well, you may start."

Her and Harry began reading each others' tea leaves.

"What've I got?" asked Remy sleepily.

"A load of soggy brown stuff." Harry replied and they both burst into badly stifled laughter, just as Pavarti dropped her cup, breaking it into pieces.

"Hah. See? I told you Pavarti's cup would break. Now, back to this rubbish."

Just then Professor Trelawney battled her way over to look at Harry's cup

"Your name, my dear?" she said urgently

"How could you not see your scar with _those_ specs?" muttered Remy to Harry, and they both laughed, despite Hermione's shushing gestures.

"I know who this boy is, Miss Black."

Trelawney Gasped.

"… My _dear _boy- no, do not ask me what I see- it is politer n-not to say!! Ohhhhhh!" She stuttered manically, looking into Harry's cup.

"What is it" asked Dean Thomas, dropping his cup, which smashed.

"My dear boy, you have…" she gulped. "_The Grim_" Most of the class gasped. Remy sarcastically clapped her hands to her mouth in fear.

"The Grim is...the omen of _Death!_" Trelawney whispered. Hermione looked, however, quite superior.

"_I _don't think it looks like a Grim." Trelawney looked scandalized.

"My dear close-minded girl… I knew from the moment I saw you, that you do not possess powers of the Seer, or the open mind to study the noble art of divination…" said Trelawney wisely, grasping Hermione's hand. Hermione pulled away in disgust. There was a long painful silence as professor Trelawney swooped back to her desk, leaving the class to stare at Harry. Neville, in the corner, fell off his chair suddenly, bringing his cup with him. It shattered. The class' attention was momentarily diverted to him.

"I'll… go get a new one," he said sheepishly. Neville returned with a pink teacup.

"See, professor? There were only pink cups left! Black was right!" said Seamus loudly. It was Remy's turn to be stared at.

"Well Harry," she said, closing her eyes and rubbing her fingers to her temples in mock prediction and imitating Trelawney's misty voice, "I predict that you shall die in seven days… because a cup told you to…" she prophesized, making many people snigger. Trelawney gave them extra homework at the end of the lesson.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid's first ever time teaching a class, they learnt about Hippogriffs, large falcon-like creatures with wings and legs that you could ride like a horse.

"The dementors send their love, potter!" Malfoy leered at the start of class, making Remy growl at him.

_You remind me of an angry dog sometimes, Remy, _thought Harry.

_Yeah, me too, actually. Maybe if I bit Malfoy…?_ Thought Remy, making Harry have to stifle his laughter. Malfoy turned to stare at Remy

"What's got Black all wound up?" jeered Malfoy, "going out of business? I know a lot of people who'd love to get their hands on some of that," he added softly, gesturing towards Remy's body in general. "Well, I've got a friend that would very much like to make a deal with you. What do you say?"

"I say there's a shovel behind Hagrid's hut that would very much like to make a deal with your face," she retorted contemptuously. The Gryffindors laughed loudly.

After Harry rode one of the hippogriffs, Buckbeak, proving to the class how non-dangerous they were, Hagrid let out about ten more for the rest of the class to practice with. Draco Malfoy stalked up to the beautiful winged creature, pronounced it a 'great ugly brute' and was scratched on the arm by the hippogriff's strong claws in return.

"It's killed me- it's _killed _me!!!" Malfoy screamed, wriggling around on the ground. If Hagrid hadn't been so stressed out, Remy would have laughed. Hermione rushed over to help, and Hagrid carried Malfoy up to the castle.

"That was completely Malfoy's fault. He's such a woos," said Ron.

"I reckon he's faking it to get Hagrid in trouble," said Harry angrily.

Remy pulled out her slingshot and an ink pellet, and aimed it right at Malfoy's head.

"I wouldn't, Remy…" said Hermione, as Remy frowned in concentration.

"Yeah, and I would," she replied.

"Go on Remy, do it!" cheered Ron, standing behind her and grinning in anticipation. The Gryffindors muttered to each other in excitement. The Slytherins were all sneering at Remy.

"She'll miss," said one of them. Just as she had said it, Remy pulled her arm back gracefully and let her two fingers go- letting the ink pellet go flying at about a hundred miles an hour, colliding with the back of Malfoy's head, which was about 200m away. There was a distant _splat, _and a black mass could be seen spreading across the back of Malfoy's blond head, followed by his scream. The Gryffindors roared with laughter. Crabbe and Goyle flexed their muscles dangerously, a feat which simply made Harry, Remy and Ron laugh more. They looked ridiculous.

"I'm going to see if he's okay!!" cried Pansy Parkinson, in tears.

"Don't bother coming back," Remy muttered.

*

Remy was puzzled. stumped, indescisive and confused. Should she tell Harry about her visions? Of course not, he'd think she was mentally disturbed. But were they important? Of course they were! She was seeing people being killed, for god's sake!

_Harry?_ thought Remy, as she, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room that night.

_Yeah?_

_What would you do if you had a secret, and you really wanted to tell someone that was really close to you, but were scared of what they might think?_

She saw Harry frown in concentration.

_If they were really close to you, you shouldn't fear their reaction._

_What if it's a very abnormal secret? _She tried.

_Then the person wouldn't care, as long as they knew you trusted them._

_Would you tell someone an abnormal secret? _She asked.

_Definitely, if that someone was you. _

"Remy, what did you put down for question five in our divination homework?" asked Hermione loudly, making both of them jump.

_Never mind, _thought Remy.

"I put down 'death' for the first eight questions," said Remy boredly.

"Remy, that doesn't make any sense! Look, question five says 'What position is Jupiter in on your birthday?' you can't answer 'death' to that! You're throwing away your brains by putting no effort into your homework!" Hermione reproached.

"Actually Hermione, when it comes to divination, I'm throwing away my brains by _doing_ the homework. Brains should be used for productive purposes, like putting cockroaches in Snape's desk," surmised Remy.

"Quiet, Rem, he might be listening!" said Ron in a hushed whisper, looking around the room fearfully.

"With what, hidden cameras?" asked Remy, raising an eyebrow.

"What's a camera?" said Ron, puzzled.

Hermione shook her head.

"Hey, how is Jupiter supposed to change places, anyway? It's just in the one spot-"

"Rem, do everyone a favour and stick to Charms," said Harry.

*

_She was angry… so angry. Someone was supposed to be here. Remy gathered that this person was waiting for someone in nail-biting anticipation. The details and emotions were vivid, as if etched in to the insides of her eyelids. She sat very still at the dining table, staring out the window into the dark street beyond. She saw nobody. She waited, and with each second, she grew angrier. And angrier. A frustrated, high-pitched scream escaped the person's lips, and they wrenched themselves out of the chair, hungry for answers, hungry for information… hungry for somebody's arrival. The person paced the dining room, white, long-fingered hands clasped together. And then- just when she was about to explode with suppressed rage- the figure of a small, round man appeared in the darkness outside, scurrying to the front door of the house. The footsteps grew louder, and excitement bubbled up inside her like a volcano… like a child on Christmas day. She was so close… So close to knowing what this person had to tell her- _

Remy awoke unexpectedly, sitting bolt upright, as if electrocuted. It was still dark, and she was panting, her heart pounding like it was desperate to escape her chest. She was relieved to find she was only in the dormitory, in her warm, cosy bed. She heard silent snoring, telling her that everyone else was sound asleep. Her head spun. it ached. Shaking off what she had just seen, yet again oblivious to what it meant, Remy lay back down and closed her eyes, wishing with all her heart for a dreamless sleep.

____________________________________________________________________

xx next chapter very soon.

P.S I WOULD LOVE SOME ADVICE OR CRITISISM OR SUGGESTIONS *very straightforward hint*


	6. Midnight eavesdroping and more

**My dear, beloved readers- do not be alarmed by this sudden update. I am simply re-doing the midnight meetings chapter, as on reading over it i realised it was a bit suggestive. I hope I do not cause any unessecary confusion in replacing the contents of this chapter.**

**xx**

Harry was wandering around the castle. He was alone, as although he had called for Remy with his mind, she had not emerged from her dormitory or replied. She must have been asleep. So he decided to wander. Not for any particular reason: he just felt he needed a stroll to clear his head. What did Remy have to tell him? Why had he heard that scream on the train? How had Remy? Most of all, though, Harry was indisputably worried about this whole Sirius Black business. What thirteen year old boy had a murderer after him? It was very dark here in the castle at night. Who knew who or what could be prowling the shadows? Suddenly, coming on this walk seemed like a very foolish idea.

Footsteps. A clicking noise. Harry was frozen to the spot. Perhaps it was his imagination? Perhaps after thinking about Sirius Black, Harry's brain would take any sound or movement as a danger sign. Perhaps his mind was trying to scare him. Whatever it was, in a moment of panic, Harry sprang across the corridor and into the nearest broom closet, then slammed the door shut behind him. As he launched himself into the broomcloset, he ran into two solid objects.

"Who the- _ouch!" _

"What the hell is going-"

"Harry?"

"Who's that?"

Through the darkness, Harry tripped over something on the floor and blindly crashed to the ground.

"Man- are you ok?"

There was a female and a male voice. Somebody lit up their wand and the entire closet was bathed in light. Remy was standing there, with Jamie Lambert, a fourth year, looking very confused. His arm was around her waist. They looked as if they had just broken apart. Harry felt embarrassed.

"Sorry- er- bad time?" Harry said sheepishly. He noticed vaguely that there was a bucket on his head. It must have fallen from one of the shelves. Jamie looked slightly irritated that they had been interrupted, but Remy's face was lit up in a grin, trying not to laugh. Jamie was trying to tug her away from Harry, but she ignored him.

"Nice fall, Harry. Where'd you get the hat?" she asked casually. She had untwined herself from Jamie, and was now staring at Harry amusedly. She suddenly stopped being a broom-closet-kiss girl, and abruptly turned into a child again, laughing shamelessly at the bucket on Harry's head. Harry's face broke into a smile and they both laughed at each other. Jamie, looking left out and put out, slowly edged his way out of the closet, leaving them in pitch darkness. It had been he who had illuminated his wand.

"Sorry for spoiling your romantic little meeting," Harry apologised, still grinning.

"Pffft! Romantic? He just wanted to kiss me, so I let him. Shallow git. I mean- I guess it was a bit stupid of me, though. And thankyou for spoiling it, he was getting on my nerves."

"Anytime," he said, saluting her.

"Just one thing," Remy said.

"Yeah?"

"Do everyone a favour and stick to Quidditch," she chortled. "Never try acrobatics."

***

Remy was waiting for Harry in the common room at midnight, as they had planned. They were going to search the school for passageways to Hogsmeade, and steal some food from the kitchens so they could skip dinner the next night and keep searching if they had to. It was only ever Harry and Remy who went on these adventures, as Hermione would surely disapprove and Ron could never be woken up. Using the invisibility cloak, they wandered the castle, where they both felt at home, and talked.

"O.K. we know where the main parts of the castle are. If we're going to find a passageway, it'll be somewhere on the south east side, because that's the place closest in proximity to Hogsmeade," said Remy, looking over a map of Hogwarts she had stolen, as wandered along the sixth corridor, eating every flavour beans.

"So what, we just search the south east side of every floor?" asked Harry.

"Pretty much. But I know that the one on the fourth floor is blocked, and there are seven I've heard of, so approximately one on every floor." She deduced.

"And we'll check every statue on the way."

"Yes."

"But shouldn't we try and determine which places are most-" began Harry, but he stopped abruptly at a mirror somewhere along the sixth floor corridor.

"What is it, Harry? I didn't think you were one to admire your own beauty."

"No, it's not that," Harry said, peering at his reflection, the moonlight bouncing off the mirror from the windows behind them. "It isn't symmetrical."

"What, your face? Harry, I already knew that-"

"No, Remy, seriously! Look!" Remy looked closer, and the mirror certainly looked odd. Harry was right. Remy put her left hand up to it, and her reflection put up her right.

"That's insane. It's doing the opposite to what a mirror should," she said.

"Maybe you can glide through it? Transamagus, remember?"

"Oh yeah," said Remy. She closed her eyes and held her hands up to the mirror, trying to glide through. Nothing happened.

"Dammit- oh my god, look!" she gasped, spotting something in the mirror that was evidently behind her. An arrow pointing upwards and an arrow pointing to the left were protruding from the wall in rock.

"What the hell?" said Harry, turning around to look at the arrows in flesh, while Remy viewed them from the mirror.

"Maybe because the mirror's doing the opposite, we have to do the opposite to what the arrows say?" suggested Remy.

"What, like down, right instead of up, left?"

"That's downright clever, that is," said Remy.

"ha-ha," said Harry. "Let's give it a try." Remy held out her right hand and traced a downwards line on the mirror surface with her finger, then drew it to the right. To their astonishment, slowly and quietly the mirror shifted to the side.

"Wow," they marvelled in unison.

"Looks like you'll be going to Hogsmeade after all, buddy," said Remy.

"And this, Remy, is why I love you," said Harry, who was still staring down the long dark passageway in amazement. Remy grinned. They followed the dark passageway, wands lit, and after what seemed like hours they reached a trapdoor. Remy pushed it open, pulling Harry through with her. They emerged in the Hogshead cellar, whispering excitedly, as they found themselves surrounded by boxes upon boxes of alcohol.

"We're geniuses! Absolute bloody-" Remy stopped dead as muffled voices came from the door leading to the Hogshead pub. Remy perked up and stared fixedly at the door, like a dog that has spotted it's pray, with an eager grin on her face. She got up and crept towards the door, but Harry held her back, wide-eyed, and shook his head. Remy raised an eyebrow.

"Come on Harry, who do you think will be inside a bar? Snivellus, lying in Dracula's coffin?" he stared at her for a few seconds, before they both sniggered at the mental image. Throwing the invisibility cloak over them, Remy pushed the door ever so slightly ajar. Snape and Dumbledore were having a heated discussion in the shop, as the bartender had apparently just ducked out into the dark cold breezy night to shoo away some dementors.

"Headmaster, there are other ways he could be able to enter,"

"Such as? I have made sure that all of the passageways out of the school- those that I know of- are blocked, and it is common knowledge that there are no other means of magical entry such as apparition into this school," said Dumbledore's calm yet powerful voice.

"I know that, but as I have expressed to you, I have concerns that a certain teacher at this school would in fact help Black enter it, and I fear he might do so," said Snape impatiently.

"There is not a teacher at this school who would help Black enter it, and I assure you each of them have my full trust."

"But he and Lupin are old friends- you remember them at school! Lupin could be his spy from the inside, letting him in, because they've been working together all along! If you really knew them, headmaster…"

"Severus, are you really going to jump to hideous conclusions about such a pleasant man because of a simple schoolboy grudge? I trust Remus Lupin completely. Goodnight, Severus, for now I must travel briefly to Egypt to put at ease the minds of some very confused emperors," he added pleasantly, and after momentarily glimpsing the spot where Harry and Remy stood, he swept from the shop. Snape followed reluctantly out the door, and the bell on the door tinkled eerily through the darkness.

"Since when does anyone have to 'briefly visit Egypt'?"

"Remy, that's completely beside the point. Schoolboy grudge? So your father and your Uncle knew Snape, and he didn't like them…"

"I wonder why?" pondered Remy. "I wonder what they did… Uncle Remus couldn't be helping my father into the school… could he? I'd know!"

"I doubt he would. But they were friends, and Snape hated them… so you can't expect Snape not to want to suspect your uncle. Snape's not exactly the most righteous guy in the world, is he?"

I guess you're right. Shall we explore Hogsmeade? Try to break into the shrieking shack?"

"I dunno Remy, maybe tomorrow night. I'm a bit creeped, aren't you?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, and tired. C'mon, let's go back. Erm, Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not hating me, you know, considering that my father's ambition in life is to kill you," she said meekly.

"It's going to take a lot more than that to ever make me hate you, Remy. I don't blame you in any way. You're on my side, remember?"

Remy beamed at him. "Let's take some firewhisky before we head back, eh?"

"Yeah, sure. Remy, what was that thing you were going to tell me the other night?"

"Nothing, just helping out a friend."

"Ok," said Harry, unconvinced.

When they got back to the mirror, they heard Filch lurking around, and had bolted back to the common room, narrowly escaping him. Remy had dropped the firewhisky.

________________________________________________________________________-

**And redo finished. Hope you liked it.**


	7. the weird side of hogwarts

***This is a fun chapter, about Harry and Remy ramblings, and the strange stuff they get up to at hogwarts. some parts are vital to the story! read!**

**The bit about pocahontas is for my friend sal, who requested a minor character. **

**A/N: just to clear up any confusion, Remy does not actually do it with guys. she's thirteen. it's all pg rated, just kissing and making out. I may have implied more than that in the last chapter... but use your imaginations.**

**-And to a lovely anonymous reviewer I received a review from yesterday, if you can't think of anything constructive to say, don't say anything at all. and you have a sick imagination.**

**Enjoy!**

_Remy! I need a distraction! _thought Harry to Remy during History of Magic.

"Huh?" said a startled Remy, who had been sleeping on her desk. She looked around and saw Hermione giving professor Binns, who was a ghost and the dull History of Magic teacher, her undivided attention, and scribbling down notes. Everyone else was either staring out the window or doodling on paper.

_A distraction! _thought Harry urgently.

_Why? What type?_"

_Because I left my invisibility cloak at the mirror! When we heard filch I must have dropped it! I didn't remember til just now! Just do something!_ He sounded importunate.

_Ok, Ok… silly boy, leaving your stuff around,_ she thought, grinning. A few seconds passed, then, without warning, Remy grabbed a rock out of her pocket and slingshot it at the glass window with a deafening smash. Everybody woke up with a start, and a few screams, and professor Binns looked up from the book he had been reading from slowly. Harry took the opportunity to run out of the room, as everyone's attention was on the window. Remy jumped up onto her desk dramatically.

"Professor! Someone just threw a rock in through the window!" she cried, jumping up and down. Everyone rushed noisily over to the window to look out the window onto the grounds, through the enormous hole the rock had made. Professor Binns spoke slowly.

"Not to worry, everyone, please calm down. Return to your seats… Miss Black please do not stand on the desks…"

"It's a conspiracy! They're attacking us from the outside!" she raved desperately.

"Miss Black, stop this madness, if you please, and return to your seat-"

"Oh, but you don't know, professor Binns? The ministry of magic has appointed a team of Muggle accountants to bring down Hogwarts! We're done for!" she said tragically, her arms flailing about.

The class was rolling around in their seats with laughter.

Hermione slapped a hand to her forehead.

"I knew Remy would go to the loony bin one of these days…"

"You may laugh now, but when accountants are swarming the school, asking you to add up numbers and all sorts of other crazy things… don't come running to me!" she announced madly, just as Harry ran back in, unnoticed. He stared oddly around the room, at Remy standing at full height on her desk, and at a hysterical class.

"Miss Black, kindly cease this madness or I will call someone of a higher authority!" said Binns in a wheezy voice.

"Sure thing, sir," she said, before sitting back down with everyone else, smirking.

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Harry was in the common room with Harry, Ron and Hermione, as Remy had a detention that day.

"I've got _so _much homework!" complained Hermione, throwing her books down on the table.

"How can you _possibly _have that much homework?" said Ron incredulously.

"All my teachers are giving us extra homework. I've got ancient runes, Muggle studies, Potions, transfiguration and Divination…"

"That's impossible! You're taking more subjects than it's logically possible! Look, you have ancient runes and potions on at the exact same time, then muggle studies at the same time as charms… it's just not-"

"Oh _shut it _Ronald! I told you, it's all been worked out with McGonagall!"

Ron and Hermione continued to bicker while Harry decided to go down and wait for them at Lunch. Slightly annoyed by them, he was on his way out to the portrait when Edward Beauregard, a fifth year boy, came bursting in, sopping wet and looking slightly humiliated.

"What happened to you?" asked Harry.

"Remy Black." He offered as an unadorned explanation.

"Oh. Don't worry, you probably just caught her in a bad mood," advised Harry. "Er- what did you do?"

"Just asked her out, because last night we met up and… well, when I asked her, she pushed me into the black lake for being 'too forward," he mumbled. "She said 'just because we had a one night stand, doesn't mean she'll race into something like that so soon.' Apparently I was pushy."

Harry shrugged as Edward wandered into the common room.

"She's beautiful when she's angry," he heard Edward mutter as he climbed through the portrait hole.

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At dinner, Harry and Remy came down ten minutes late, wearing giant smirks on their faces.

"What are you grinning at?" asked Ron.

"Oh, nothing," Remy said airily, as they sat down opposite Ron and Hermione.

"You've done something that will get you in to trouble, haven't you," Ron evaluated.

"You're absolutely right, Ron," said Harry, smiling and taking a piece of pie.

"That's a first," muttered Remy. "I'm just kidding!" she added at the look on Ron's face. Hermione was looking at her suspiciously.

"Really, you two, what have you done?"

"Technically, we haven't really done anything _wrong,_" began Harry,

"Only we have done _something. _I'm sure you won't oppose when you hear it," finished Remy.

"Or see it," chortled Harry.

"But-" Hermione's sentence was cut tragically short, for Draco Malfoy had just walked in through the double doors, sporting brilliantly pink hair. He swaggered over to the Slytherin table not at all self-conscious, obviously misinterpreting the silence that had fallen over the great hall for one of awe due to his overwhelming presence. The Gryffindors began to snigger. Snape looked embarrassed, Lupin amused, and Dumbledore curious, but McGonagall was glaring straight at Harry and Remy. Everybody watched him as he took a seat between Crabbe and Goyle, who looked awkward. Nobody moved as he began helping himself to food, throwing wary glances at the rest of the room. He was apparently now conscious of everyone watching him and giggling. Pansy Parkinson tapped him on the shoulder nervously, and handed him her spoon to check his reflection in. he stared at the spoon, and as he did so, his eyes widened in horror.

"AAAHH!" he shrieked, jumping from his seat and throwing the spoon down on the table. Everyone had now erupted into their skilfully disguised laughter, except for a couple of Slytherins. Malfoy looked around the room in terror, before putting a hand over his head and sprinting back out the doors, his face as pink as his hair. Only did the laughter stop when Dumbledore signalled for silence.

"You – put – hair-dye – in – his – shampoo?" gasped Ron, who was finding it hard to contain himself.

"He does seem like the type who wants to be noticed," chortled Harry.

"We were just helping him out!" said Remy cheerfully. Hermione shook her head.

"You guys, that was really wrong of you. Malfoy may be a horrible person, but you shouldn't be so childish about how you retaliate!" reprimanded Hermione, but she, too, was trying to fight off a smile.

"Aahh. Revenge is beautiful in its own wonderful, cryptic way." Said Remy.

"Harry Potter and Remy Black," said a cold voice from behind them. Remy saw Ron looking over her and Harry's shoulders in horror. They turned around and saw McGonagall, looking down at them, her mouth in one hard line, and her nostrils flaring.

"Would you by any chance be able to explain to me, how Mr. Malfoy's hair could have possibly turned pink without him even knowing so himself?" she asked dryly.

"Everybody goes through a mid-life crisis, professor."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remy's visions continued, becoming more realistic and painful with each one. She wished she knew what the trigger was. Why were they so bad now? They hardly ever bothered her in the holidays before Harry and Ron came to stay… now they were worse than ever. She decided to climb out of bed one night after a vision, as she wasn't tired, and time spent trying to sink into unconsciousness was just time her mind spent inventing strange, new visions for her to endure.

Putting on a jumper and grabbing her wand, Remy tip-toed out the door and down the stairs, into the common room, then glided through the fat lady's portrait. She was out. Now where would she go? She could go for a walk in the grounds. Remembering Sirius Black, she shuddered and hastily reconsidered her decision.

-Remy froze. She felt as if her heart would leap out of her chest, and her entire body went numb. A pair of bright, gleaming eyes were staring out at her through the darkness of the seventh floor corridor. Fixed on her. Watching. She couldn't move- she was completely bound by fear. The eyes moved closer and more to the left, and as they did so, Remy saw a the dark shape of an enormous black dog move with it.

"_Lumos!" _Remy hissed, grabbing her wand hastily- but when the light shone on the place the eyes had been, there was nothing there.

Then, she heard small footsteps to her right- her hand moved rapidly to the noise, and she was met with a shadow much taller than the last, with gleaming, blue eyes-

"AAHHH!" It was not just Remy who had screamed. The figure had screamed too, and their mingled screams had almost given Remy heart failure. This was until she realised it was just a Ravenclaw girl with short blonde hair, freckles and green-blue eyes, standing there, smiling as if Remy had just wished her a Merry Christmas.

"You scared the living _crap _out of me!" gasped Remy, clutching her chest.

"Hello," said the girl.

"Er- hi," Remy said, slightly creeped out. "What are you doing up here? You're in Ravenclaw," she pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm looking for Harry Potter," she said, smiling brightly.

"Like everyone else in the northern hemisphere, he's in bed. You know, _asleep?_" Remy explained slowly.

The girl's face fell.

"Dammit… my plans, ruined again!" she said maniacally, throwing her hands up in the air and turning around.

"Um, kid, are you ok? I mean, you know, mentally? Do you need help? Because I know this great place for people just like you- it's called St. Mungo's," said Remy sardonically.

But the girl was walking away backwards, her hands raised in anguish like an actor in a melodrama.

"Noo!!!! I'll be ready next time…. yes, next time…" she muttered, backing away.

"What's your name?" Remy asked.

"I am Pocahontas!" She announced, before disappearing into the darkness once more

"Nice to…meet you?" said Remy, staring after her, slightly confused. "Man there are some weirdos around here… Snape, Dumbledore, Pocahontas… Ron. All mental," she thought. Remy decided she didn't want to know what other weirdos could be lurking around, so she went back to bed, very unnerved, preparing for her usual sleeping pattern: go to sleep, have a vision, wake up. and so it went on.

**Next chapter in a minute!**


	8. Halloween

**Enjoy- a redo of chap 9**

**-------------**

Halloween

In a few weeks, people began to enjoy Defence as much as Harry and Remy dreaded potions. After poor Hagrid's last experience at teaching a class, they began to lack any fun or slightly interesting creatures.

Harry and Remy went down to Quidditch practice early one evening, to find the rest of their team already there.

"Right, team. I know we've got a good chance this year, I can just feel it. Now make sure we do it, it's our last chance. _My_ last chance," Wood, their captain and keeper said confidently.

"We'll do it Oliver!" cried Angelina.

"We've got three _superb _chasers," he said proudly, indicating Remy, Angelina Johnston and Katie Bell. (Remy was the smallest, and therefore the fastest.)

"We're flattered," said Remy, grinning.

"As long as Black keeps her temper that is…" he said, raising his eyebrows at her.

She was very well remembered (especially by Wood) for being the Chaser that knocked out the Slytherin beater halfway through a match in their second year, for hitting Harry over the head with a bat. The row that followed between her and Wood was unbelievable, as Slytherin gained a penalty, and nearly won- until Harry caught the snitch. He remembered Wood bellowing himself hoarse at her afterwards, lecturing her about letting her reckless anger distract her from what was really important, (Quidditch) and that if she did it again he would kick her off the team. Obviously he would never have done such a thing, as Remy was his best chaser. Wood, like Remy, had an easily provoked temper, and often said things he regretted later. He and Remy, being the most short-fused people on the team, and possibly in the school, often got into arguments.

"We've got two _incredible _beaters," he said, a maniac glint in his eye, pointing at Fred and George Weasley, Ron's elder twin brothers.

"Oh please, Oliver- you're making us blush," said Fred Weasley, who along with his twin were pretending to blush.

"And a seeker who's _never lost us a match!!"_ he yelled, glaring at Harry with furious pride.

"Yeah, but even if he does catch the snitch, what if we don't score enough goals?" asked Angelina.

"Of course you will! You're all excellent chasers. And it's in potter's blood," he said, winking at Harry. His dad had been the Gryffindor seeker.

"Hurry up, Oliver, I have someone to meet up with at a designated place," said Remy frustratedly.

"Remy, you _can _say date," said George.

"That's so old fashioned, though!" said Remy, cringing.

Wood looked at her suspiciously.

"With?"

"None of your business."

"_With?" _he repeated.

"Edward Beauregard," said Remy impatiently. Katie and Angelina looked wistful: Evan was a well known heart throb.

-------------------------------

That night in the common room, Ron and Hermione had a row. Ron had merely mentioned that Scabbers was in his pocket, when Crookshanks leapt at Ron's pocket, frightening Scabbers out of his wits. Ron yelled hysterically that Crookshanks had it in for Scabbers, and Remy was beginning to agree. Scabbers looked very, very ill. There was something about Scabbers that really truly bothered Crookshanks…

Also, Hermione had been complaining to Harry and Remy in secret all day.

"If you two go into Hogsmeade, you might run into Sirius Black! It's too dangerous, Harry, Remy, _Please don't!!" _They ignored her.

------------------------------------

That night Harry and Remy took their secret route to Hogsmeade, pocketing fire whisky and butter beer in the cellar. With the invisibility cloak on, they walked through the village, peering inside the shops for a preview, and sometimes daring to go inside and steal sweets and merchandise.

"I really don't think we should be stealing, Remy," said Harry uneasily.

"Harry, when has that ever stopped me? And it's borrowing. I'm only _borrowing_ the trick quill and parchment, and the jumping frogs."

"Are you going to return them?" asked Harry flatly as Remy was halfway through the glass window.

"Return them? Harry, borrowing doesn't necessarily mean you have to return something. Ron 'borrowed' my spellotape last week, and did he give that back?" she asked superiorly.

"Yes."

Remy stared at him for a moment, then shrugged and went into the shop, returning minutes later with many assorted trick merchandise.

They ate and drank sitting behind a barbed wire fence on a hill, overlooking the shrieking shack. They thought they spotted something moving in there.

"Should we go and try and get inside it?" asked Remy eagerly, looking from Harry to the rickety old building.

"I dunno, Rem…"

"Come on, Harry, live a little! Voldemort's disembodied, I can perform a patronus to make the dementors back off, and who believes in vampires and werewolves?" she said, laughing inwardly. Of course she believed in werewolves, she lived with one.

"You do, Remy," said Harry flatly.

Remy's face screwed up like she was trying to find more ways to convince him.

"Oh- come on!" she urged, but suddenly, a sudden chill began to descend on them. The feeling was too familiar, and everything went unnaturally dark… Remy turned around and found that they were facing about five hooded, skeletal dementors. She could have fainted. They surrounded the two small thirteen year olds, closing in on them in the bitter darkness.

_Harry, Harry, Run! _Remy thought, as they began opening the horrible dark holes that were their mouths.

_I can't, they're everywhere, _he thought back. She felt his hand close around her wrist. Closing her eyes momentarily and thinking about him, Remy drew her wand and shouted –

"_Expecto Patronum_!" the shield of silver light danced towards the dementors and they cleared away at once, hissing in protest. The darkness descended, and the moonlight lit the little village once more. She felt Harry's hand slip away, and closed her eyes, grabbing her head, as it ached terribly.

The Patronus evaporated. She heard that same woman screaming in her head, and it was louder than ever. She couldn't get it out. Looking over to her left, she saw Harry had fainted. Remy panicked at the sight of her best friend's limp body. The feeling in her drained, and her mind went numb with shock. Even though she knew he was alive, the sight shocked her to the core, and complete emptiness consumed her. Her only thought was that he was dead, and she couldn't go on.

"_Invigorate!" _she cried. Harry awoke, panting, staring up at her with horrified green eyes.

"Harry- I'm sorry. I'm so stupid... oh, this is all my fault, I shouldn't have tried to make you come with me, I should have listened to you when you said we shouldn't hang around any longer-"

"Shhh," said Harry, sitting up and holding her chin is his hand.

"It's not your fault I'm a wimp. I wanted to come too, it's not your fault. And don't you dare say you're stupid," he said intently, staring into her eyes.

"I thought- you- were-"

"I'm ok, don't worry. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she said, feeling the colour slowly return to her face. They held hands the whole way back, the woman's screams swirling around in both of their heads.

*

On Halloween, after having entered it so many times to explore Hogsmeade in the past week, Remy and Harry found their passageway blocked off. Remy looked like she could have cried.

"No! we discovered it- it can't be! We were so clever for finding it out, damn it, and now it's gone!" she cried.

"Bad luck, you guys. There'll be others, you'll see," said Ron. Remy didn't cheer up. Harry had to stay behind, as he wasn't able to persuade McGonagall to sign his form. This made Remy even madder.

"That" (Remy called McGonagall something that made Hermione gasp in horror) "is really starting to bug me! First she gives me and Harry double homework for playing hangman at the back of the class. Now she won't let Harry go into Hogsmeade!"

"Calm down, Remy," said Hermione reprovingly.

*

Remy, Ron and Hermione visited Hogsmeade, and it was relatively fun. Ron thoroughly enjoyed the sweet shop, and bought a large bag full of sweets, Hermione a handful, not wanting to rot her teeth, and Remy a bagful, along with the bag she chose for Harry. Remy dragged them to Zonko's, where she stacked up on her supplies of mischief making gadgets and tricks, much to Ron's amusement and Hermione's disapproval. As soon as Hermione started informing them about the myths of the shrieking shack, Remy grew uneasy, remembering the dementors.

"Guys, I don't feel well. I think I'm going to go back," she said, grimacing. She felt quite ill all of a sudden, and she was feeling dizzy. She told them she was going to go back to the castle.

"Too many sweets, eh, Rem?" said Ron sympathetically.

"Yeah, that'd be it," said Remy, cursing herself for having so many sherbet balls. She said goodbye to Ron and Hermione, and sprinted up to the castle.

She ran up the road to Hogwarts, pebbles crunching under her feet. It was a long road, and it was cold. Who paved this darn street? The forestation bordering the path grew thicker as she walked on, and a few times she swore she saw an animal looking at her through the trees. This startled Remy, but every time she looked closer there appeared to be nothing there. She saw a sign up ahead reading HOGWARTS, pointing up a long path that led to the school's front entrance. Hogwarts looked beautiful from a distance, its jagged outline imprinted into the clear blue sky-

Remy was suddenly grabbed violently around the waist, and a hand covered her mouth, halting her scream. Remy struggled, but the arms around her were too strong. The rough, growl-like voice spoke into her ear.

"Give me all the money you have. Empty your purse-"

"I dddnn ava purrrs!" came Remy's muffled cry. "You think I'd be found dead with a purse?"

"Fine, wallet- whatever! Give me your money!" said the harsh voice in her ear. It sent chills down her spine. She could feel his ribs sticking out and the rag like clothes she could see were old and filthy. Remy refused, stupidly, and reached for her wand- but the arm he had been using to restrain her grabbed her wand hand and wrenched it away from her pocket, almost ripping her arm out of her socket. She couldn't move it.

"Owch! Let me GO!" she cried, but the sound was muffled by his hand yet again. She couldn't see his face and he couldn't see hers. The man wanted money- and he was probably willing to hurt her to get it. She felt a stab of guilt at the thought of how poor she and her uncle were…

"Now!"

With one quick hand she grabbed her wallet out of her robes and thrust it into the man's hand. She caught a glimpse of him as she did so- seeing a blur of long dirty black hair- and he gasped and let go. As he was distracted, Remy kneed him where it hurt and ran for her life.

"Wait!" the man shrieked. She sprinted all the way to the grounds, leant against a castle wall, and caught her breath. Running wasn't her strong point. She sat there, panting. Her left arm was in agony, twinging and throbbing with every movement. She kept trying to deny it with all her might- but she couldn't. That was Sirius Black. Her father, not realising who she was, had mugged her. What an idiot. Her wallet! It contained a photo of Remy, her mother, and Black himself, when she had been a baby. And her gringotts key! Crap! And now _he _had them. Her ears were ringing with the sound of his voice. And strangely, even though she hated him, she clung onto the last echoes of his voice with all the capacity of her mind, replaying his words. She hadn't heard it since she was a year old. Remy considered reporting him. But why should she? He would be long gone by now. Black would have fled by the time she alerted the proper authorities. And secretly…Remy didn't _want _him to go back to jail. If her father was going to be caught, she didn't want anyone else to catch him while she sat back and pretended nothing ever happened. She wanted to catch him herself. She wanted answers. From him. She wanted to be the judge. He was her father, after all. She had a right.

Remy found Harry with her Uncle on the bridge leading to the grounds, talking about something. How sweet. Spying them from the other end of the bridge, Remy climbed up onto the bridge cover (with admitted difficulty). She crawled along, until she was directly above them. Stealthily, she leaned over the edge, and listened.

"You knew my mother?"

"She was there for me at a time when no-one else was. She was a singularly gifted witch who always saw the best in others even when they themselves could not see it," he said reminiscently. "And your father… let's just say he had a talent for trouble, a talent which, rumour has it, he passed on to you," he finished. Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I guess."

"You and Remy do get up to a bit of trouble sometimes, don't you? She's as bad as her father, that kid. He was a troublemaker, too." Remy received a jolt in her stomach at the mention of Black.

"You knew Black," said Harry.

"I thought I did."

"What was he like?"

"A male version of Remy." Harry laughed.

"So funny, witty, clever, hot-headed and stubborn?"

"That's right," he agreed. "Except he went bad, and she didn't. Your parents would be very proud of you, you know. It's a shame you couldn't know them. You're more like them than you think."

Remy dropped through the roof, startling them.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Harry, supporting himself on a bridge pillar.

"Hi," she said brightly.

"Remy! You scared the-" Remus stopped mid-sentence when he realised he was on the verge of swearing, an act which would prove most hypocritical. "Never do that again! You nearly gave me heart failure!" he said sharply.

"Sorry about that," she said casually, sticking a piece of chewing gum in her mouth and leaning against the banister.

"Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" Harry asked.

"I got bored, thought I'd come say hi," she said off-handedly. She was trying to remember every detail of what had happened with Black and shove it to the back of her mind.

"Is something wrong, love?" asked Remus, placing a hand on her arm. Her _left _arm. She wrenched it away, instinctively protecting it with her other hand.

Remus looked puzzled. "Did you hurt your arm?"

"Huh? No, I'm fine," she said, looking out towards Hogsmeade. Remus shrugged to himself.

Harry, Remus and Remy talked for a bit about dementors, Hogsmeade, (Remy giving Harry his lollies from Honeydukes) professor Snape (who had given Remus a potion, something Harry was very suspicious about) and some other stuff, before they headed up towards the castle. The rest of the school were coming back. It turned out that Uncle Remus was helping Harry fight off dementors, and now Remy was helping. Walking up to the school, Remy found she had made a decision. She wasn't going to tell a soul about Black.

*

The feast was after Hogsmeade delicious- there were pumpkins, pumpkin pasties, all sorts of pies, many different types of meat (which Remy refused to eat) and lots of platters of vegetables and potatoes, salads and pasta. Ron loaded his plate to the brim.

"Do you ever stop eating?" asked Hermione exasperatedly. Ron shrugged. Remy and Harry both reached for the last piece of blueberry pie, and accidentally touched hands. Harry pulled away embarrassedly, and Remy felt a strange flutter in her stomach.

_I touched her hand. I wish I could hold it again after the other night… _Remy heard Harry think, obviously intending it for his own brain.

"You take it," said Remy

"No, you, it's fine," said Harry. Hermione smiled to herself and cut it in half for them.

They all headed up the staircase for bed, bursting with delectable food. When they reached the last flight of stairs, they found it jammed with students. Remy groaned frustratedly, wanting to go to bed.

"What's going on?" asked Ginny, who had just arrived. Percy bustled through the crowd. When he reached the top, silence fell

"Get professor Dumbledore," he said sharply.

Remy poked her head around. The Fat Lady's portrait had been scratched to pieces. Everyone gasped. Dumbledore came running up the stairs followed by Remus, McGonagall and Flitwick.

"Mr Filch," Dumbledore said calmly, "Have the ghosts search for the Fat Lady, and restore her." But then Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist, zoomed up to him, looking for trouble.

"There'll be no need for ghosts, professorhead." He said mischievously.

"What do you mean, peeves?" asked professor Dumbledore. Peeves smiled more widely and turned to Remy

"Oh, he got _very_ angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty temper just like yours, he's got, that Sirius Black."

Every single pair of eyes turned to her. She wished she could sink through the floor- being a Transamagus, she could have- but being on a staircase she would have fallen to her untimely death. Her dark hair fell in front of her eyes in embarrassment. She hated being stared at. Some people were glaring at her. It was odd that the day he tried to mug her he would come to the school. The murdering bastard. Thankfully, Dumbledore broke the silence.

"Everybody, report to the Great Hall at once. Teachers, search the north and south towers for any sign of Black."

In the Great Hall, the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had happened, while Dumbledore set out hundreds of purple sleeping bags. Remy hardly noticed what was going on around her. Her head was spinning angrily. Sirius Black had selfishly ruined her day, just like he had ruined her life.

"C'mon," she heard Harry say, and the four of them found a corner to retreat to. Everyone was asking the same question: How did he get in? But Remy didn't care. She didn't want to know. As long as he was away from Harry.

"Do you think he's still in the castle?" asked Hermione.

"I dunno. I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run. Lucky he didn't know it was Halloween, or he'd have come bursting in here," said Ron gravely. Remy had her head buried in her pillow, not wanting to hear, but sat up again in surprise, facing Ron.

"My mother died on Halloween," she said quietly, turning her locket over in her fingers. Harry stared at her.

"Maybe he hasn't lost track of time," she said, even quieter. Harry looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't. After a few hours, just about everyone was asleep but her and Harry. Remy felt Harry's arm close around her shoulders.

_Are you okay? _Harry thought to her.

_Sometimes it hurts to look in the mirror, you know. I look just like him. Looking at myself reminds me of him, and it hurts to think about what he did. If he was so keen to go to the dark side, he should never have had me. Because now I'm the one who has to deal with the things he did. Have you seen the way people look at me? And it's all his fault,_ She thought angrily. _Why couldn't he have just been normal and been my father? Why did he have to go and mess everything up! _Harry fiddled with her hair for a moment, thinking.

_My parents died on Halloween, too, _Harry thought. Remy grew rigid.

_What!? _She thought, growing cold.

_That's weird. Really weird. They died on the same day…and on that same day, this year, Black comes up to the school and tries to get into our common room. Do you think our parents knew each other? _asked Harry.

_It would be nice to think they had known each other, but Remus hasn't said anything about it…although that doesn't say much. But then where does Black fit in? Where was he on Halloween 81? _she thought. Harry held her and stroked her hair until she was fast asleep.

*

That night, Remy had a vision of a rat-like man, grovelling at her feet. He was telling her something, something that excited her. He seemed to want her to be grateful, and was undeniably proud of himself for feeding her this information.

In the second one, she was that same, white fingered person, with the high-pitched, cruel voice…

_She was ecstatic, walking along a dark hallway, her heart thumping and releasing adrenalin into every inch of her being. Her wand was held out in front of her. She approached a door, and heard the sound of heavy objects being thrown and pushed against it from the inside. How foolish, Remy thought for some reason. She drew her wand higher. This was it. The moment. Her destiny lay behind this door- the last thing to do was break it down, and seize victory-_

"_Reducto!"_

_The door exploded; chairs, tables and cabinets were thrown with undying velocity into the room beyond, scattering their bits everywhere, the deafening noise mingling with a woman's scream. Through the smoky haze she saw her. A woman, with red hair, shielding what looked like a cot, a look of pure terror etched onto her face-_

Remy awoke, startled, to find tears pooling in her eyes and tricking down her face. She was breathing heavily, and sat up, to clear the horrid dizziness of her head. She was in the great hall. All was safe. She lay back down and nestled in next to Harry, sobbing silently. Even though she hadn't been herself in the vision, Remy felt she, personally had taken a life. She was a witness, a witness of mind and memory- or foreseeing. Either way, the guilt for that woman rested upon Remy's shoulders like an undying burden.

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**Hope u like, no flames please.**


	9. echidna

**I apologize for the ridiculous length of this chapter. but i couldn't find a way to cut it in half.**

**hah, i sound like a murderer... cut it in half... pffftt.**

**sorry, I think i'm high. **

**Disclaimer:...do you really need one after reading all of my others? **

**I call this chapter... echidna, because I've just seen one outside. no, wait, it's just a coconut...**

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The next day, to Remy's great displeasure, the school talked of nothing but Sirius Black. Her temper seemed to be rising with every murmur or comment about him. She was snapping at everyone who talked to her, and spent most of her time out of class in a surly grumpy mood, cooped up in the girls' dormitory. Harry felt that it was best to leave her alone. She snapped during Herbology, when Hannah Abbot began telling everyone that Black could turn into a flowering shrub.

"No he can't, you idiot! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Remy snapped derisively.

"What would you know, Black?" retorted Hannah, looking affronted.

"Maybe not much, but I certainly know that flowering shrubs can't walk." She said heatedly.

"Miss Black, please! Be quiet and stop disrupting the class!" said Professor Sprout exasperatedly.

_I'm not the one telling everyone that plants have legs,_ She thought. Harry sniggered

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To add to her bad mood, she found that her fling, Edward Beauregard, had been unfaithful. She had caught him with Scarlett Whitby in her and Evan's personal broom closet, kissing each other like their lives depended on it. She had stormed back to the common room, fuming.

"Remy, what's-"

"That prick!" she cried, grabbing a piece of firewood from beside the fireplace and snapping it in half aimlessly in her armchair.

"What is it?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"H's been cheating around on me! That's my job! Only I can do that!" she snapped furiously, pointlessly snapping bits of firewood in an angry tirade.

"Now that's hardly fair, Remy-"

"Hardly fair? He cheated on me with scarlet woman!" her face was flushed with anger.

"You mean Scarlet Whitby? Serves you right, you never made it official. It was just all kissing and flirting and stuff," said Ron.

"What would you know, Ron? You probably haven't had a girl one day in your life!" she retorted.

"I think you guys should back off," mouthed Harry to Ron and Hermione, who nodded.

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Remy couldn't help thinking that Black had come to the school because he was reminded of Louisa's death, and after running into Remy, wanted to see her. Either that or he had just picked a random day to try and kill Harry. She shuddered. She was also trying to get her head around the connection between Harry's parents and her own.

The weather became drizzly and horrible as the first Quidditch mach grew nearer. It was at one of the team's five o' clock practices that Oliver Wood delivered them some bad news.

"We're not playing Slytherin!" he said, fuming. "Flint's just told me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead."

"What?" shouted Remy.

"Why?" chorused the rest of the team.

"Their seeker's injured, apparently. But I know they just don't want to play in this shocking weather. It might damage their chances…" Wood said, grinding his teeth together.

"There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm! He's faking it!" yelled Harry and Remy furiously.

"I know." He said grimly. And we've been training as if we're playing Slytherin… considered all their tactics and moves. Instead we're playing Hufflepuff, and their style's quite different- they've got a new seeker, Cedric Diggory-"

Katie and Angelina suddenly giggled.

"What?" said Wood, frowning at this light-hearted behaviour, as Remy rolled her eyes at them.

"He's the tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" said Angelina.

"Strong and silent," said Katie, and they started to giggle again.

"He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," said Remy impatiently. "He's hot, though."

"I don't know why you're worrying, Oliver, Hufflepuff are a pushover. Last time we played them, Remy scored seven goals and Harry caught the snitch all in about five minutes, remember?" Fred reminded him.

"We were playing in different conditions! Don't you see how important this is? Diggory's an excellent seeker with an excellent team!" shouted Wood, his eyes bulging slightly. "We can't relax! We have to focus and take this seriously! We have to _win!"_

"Calm down Oliver," said George, slightly alarmed. "We're taking Hufflepuff very seriously."

"_Seriously" _agreed Fred.

"Stop saying seriously!" snapped Remy.

"Black, why are you in such a bad mood? Snap out of it," Wood told her sharply.

"Bad move, Wood," said Fred apprehensively. Remy's face flushed with anger.

"Oh, you want to know why _I'm _in such a bad mood?! For one, that _PRICK _Edward Beauregard cheated on me with scarlet woman-"

"You mean Scarlet Whitby?" asked Wood confusedly.

"I WILL DECIDE HER NAME! Secondly, my _stupid _father has broken in to the school to try and _murder my best friend, _and THIRDLY, I HAVE _YOU, _CONSTANTLY BUGGING ME ABOUT WHY I'M IN SUCH A BAD MOOD!!"

Wood had kicked her out of the change rooms, sending her back up to the castle ten minutes early. She waited, in surly spirits that ironically suited the drizzly weather, for Harry up at the castle doors.

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They were on their way back up to the common room, dripping and muddy, and Harry was attempting to cheer her up.

"Come on Rem-Rem, cheer up," said Harry, putting his arm around her and grinning. "You know you and Wood both have very short fuses, you're bound to have a row once in a while."

"I don't want to cheer up," she grumbled. "Yuk, I've never felt so filthy!" she complained.

"Really?" said Harry. "How bout now," he teased, pulling her into a dripping wet hug.

"Euggghhhh!!, _get off_! She protested, trying to struggle free as Harry laughed. She finally escaped and shook her saturated thick dark hair like a wet dog right in Harry's face.

"Jeez, your hair can carry more water than the black lake!" whined Harry, wiping his face as Remy bolted away from him, laughing. He ran after her- until they suddenly found themselves skidding to a halt in front of Filch, who appeared to be in an even worse mood than Remy.

"Potter and Black! I should have guessed. Troublemakers from day one, you two were. Well I hate to disappoint the success of your little treacherous duo, but I will not tolerate people leaving mud _all over the floor! _That's a detention for both of you!"

"It's only a bit of mud!" said Harry irately

"What do you expect, we've been training out in the grounds. And it's _raining. Rain_, plus _dirt_, equals _muuuddd!_" shouted Remy as if talking to a mentally handicapped person.

"Enough, Black, you deceitful little delinquent!" he snarled.

"Screw you!"

"I'll be speaking to your head of house about this, leaving filth everywhere…" he grumbled, handing them two detention slips.

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Remy had stormed straight up to her dormitory, incensed, once her and Harry reached Gryffindor Tower. She ripped back her covers and climbed into bed fully clothed. She was completely unaware of anything in the room as she rolled onto her side and lay there, thinking angrily about Black. That was really what she was angry about. Stupid, selfish, murdering, evil, seething, spiteful, malevolent, heartless-

"Remy?"

"What!" she snapped, sitting up to face her new company. A girl with light brown wavy hair and green eyes stood before her, looking unsure. Remy felt suddenly guilty.

"Yeah, what?" she repeated, a little less harsh.

"Um, I think this is yours. You know, because it has your name on it…" she said, handing Remy a parcel wrapped in brown paper.

"Thanks. Where was it?" Remy asked.

"On my bed. I don't know how it got there, it just appeared this morning," she said incredulously.

"Sweet. Um… who are you, by the way?" she asked absently, searching the parcel for a note.

"My name's Aria Ethelbert… I've… been sleeping in the same dormitory as you for three years," she reminded her, raising an eyebrow.

"Right, I knew that. "

Then Remy gasped, as she tore off the package's wrapping.

"What is it?" asked Aria, startled.

"My wallet," Remy breathed. Her black leather wallet rested in the palm of her hand, amidst the brown paper, just as it had been when it had been stolen by him…

"Er- I hope you don't mind me asking, but- why would someone be sending you your wallet?" asked Aria curiously, sitting on the end of Remy's bed.

"I had it stolen from me just last week in Hogsmeade- by some man. Now- now it's back! That means he- the robber, that is- sent it… god, that's creepy," observed Remy thoughtfully.

Aria's jaw was hanging open. Apparently, she thought it was creepy, too.

"A man stole your wallet!? Oh my god, you should report the creep! That's totally weird that he'd be sending it back to you," she said fervently, very unnerved. Chills cascaded down Remy's spine. Her father had sent her back the wallet. She opened it, to find that all most of her money, her gringotts key, the familiar newspaper clippings and old notes between her and Harry in class, and her photos were all there- except for one. The one that contained Remy, her mother and her father, sitting happily on a flight of stairs. Remy's stomach turned cold. _He _had it.

"At least everything's still there," said Aria hopefully.

_Not everything, _thought Remy.

"Yeah, I guess… you won't tell anyone I was robbed, will you?" Remy asked nervously.

"Course not," she said, grinning. "I mean- he can't be that bad, if he just suddenly decided to give you all your stuff back," she surmised.

"You'd be surprised. I'll probably open it up and find a ransom note for something I didn't even know was in here," said Remy.

Aria laughed. "Maybe." She had an odd look on her face, like she wanted to say something important to Remy right then, but decided not to, bid Remy goodbye and went back down into the common room.

*

One afternoon, Remy and Harry, on their way to defence against the dark arts, decided to use the time they had to get their revenge on Filch.

"Remy, maybe we shouldn't-"

"And that's exactly why we should," said Remy stubbornly.

_Damn it, you're right…_ He grinned. She grinned back.

"What we do, is leave this trick-smudge on the floor. He'll try to clean it up, but the thing is, it gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until it's so big it'll be all over the floor, and him, and anyone who touches it... It may leave a lot of evidence, but wait. Only he can see it. I've made it invisible and undetectable to wizards. And he's a squib."

"How-"

"Don't ask how, it's tricky. The only way to get rid of it is a tricky counter-spell, but I know it. So if it goes too far, we can come back here and fix it up. In the meantime, everyone will think he's terminally insane. All we have to do is remember where we are- in the corridor leading off the defence against the dark arts classroom, beside the knight with a toad in its helmet," she said, indicating said knight, which croaked loudly.

"You're a genius, Remy. How you come up with these things is completely beyond me," said Harry, shaking his head in awe. They then realised they were ten minutes late to defence against the dark arts. They sprinted down the corridor, took a left, and then sprinted down another, bursting through the classroom door. Remy turned to him as they entered.

"Well, at least it's not Snape-"

"Good afternoon, Black and Potter," sneered a cold malicious voice. Remy looked up in horror to see professor Snape himself, standing in front of them, in the defence against the dark arts classroom.

"What the hell are you- Ouch!" exclaimed Remy, shaking the foot Harry had stood on.

"What an honour it is to finally be in your presence," said Snape sardonically.

"Wish I could say the same for you," murmured Remy.

"Silence, Black, you arrogant little fool. Ten minutes late, so I think ten points from Gryffindor. Each, and another five for Black. Now sit." The class watched while Remy, who yet again was fuming with rage, and Harry, gritting his teeth together in anger, took their usual double desk.

_What a dickhead! I hate his guts! I just want to-_

_Calm down, you'll only give him another reason to take house points. _

She's so sexy when she's angry, Harry thought to himself.

_Why thankyou, _she replied.

Harry looked horror-struck.

_Did I really just think that aloud?_

_Yeah, you did. Do you ever think about kissing? _She thought curiously.

Harry snorted with laughter, making Ron look at him oddly.

_That sounds like a question a six year old would ask. But yeah, I guess I do…_

_Me too, a bit._

_Remy, you've probably made out with almost a quarter of the male population of students in this school. Are you telling me you only think about it a bit?_

_I'm talking about with-_

"Black, pay attention," snapped Snape, who was mid-way through some boring explanation.

"Sir, where's professor Lupin?" asked Harry loudly. Snape turned around menacingly to face him.

"That's not really any of your concern, is it Potter?"

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"Your professor finds himself too ill to teach today. But not to worry, it's nothing life-threatening," he said with a smile that clearly showed he wished it was. Of course, it was the full moon soon, so Remus was growing ill.

"Now, let's see… I'm unaware of what you have covered so far…"

"Please, sir, we're due to start Red-caps this week-"

"I do not believe I asked you to speak, Miss Granger. And I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization."

"Well people don't really "organize" falling ill, do they?" said Remy, her voice heavy with bitter sarcasm.

"Silence, Black. I'm afraid your tiresome arrogance and disrespect is not desired in this particular class," he sneered at her. "Today we will study… werewolves." He said, flicking to the end of the book.

"What? We're not up to werewolves yet!"

"Quiet! Turn to page 394."

They all did.

"Can anyone tell me the difference between a werewolf and the true wolf?"

Hermione shot her hand in the air. Remy remained silent, gripping the desk tightly. She knew Snape knew about what Remus was…

"Anyone? What a pity… I would expect maybe a grade two class to be able to tell me that…"

"Well it's not your class, is it?" Remy sneered.

"Hold your tongue, Black."

_Wash your hair, vampire bat._

Harry had to try very hard not to laugh.

"Please- sir- the werewolf differs from the true wolf in many different ways-"

"Miss Granger, are you incapable of holding your tongue, or do you enjoy being an insufferable know-it-all?" he said cruelly, and Hermione looked at the ground, eyes full of tears.

Everyone glared at Snape. And Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-it-all at least twice a week, said, "You asked a question, and she answered it! What did you want?"

"Yeah," said Remy, never one to resist trouble, "why ask if you didn't want to be told?" she said furiously. The class held their breath.

"Detention, both of you." Snape said silkily, sneering at them.

Remy groaned.

"What you gonna do, Black? Get Daddy to come and defend you?" sneered Malfoy

"That's rich, Malfoy, coming from someone who wants their daddy to file a law suit against a hippogriff for giving you a measly scratch on the arm." She said sardonically. Malfoy shut up.

_How do you know he's filing a law-suit? _thought Harry. Remy thought nothing, not wanting to give away her visions. She had had one last night of Lucius Malfoy speaking to the head of the department for the disposal of dangerous creatures about Draco Malfoy's arm, and how it had been critically injured by Buckbeak, and that he wished to file a case against it.

About halfway through the lesson, Snape went to fetch a file or book or something from the cupboard in the corner of the room- which, when he opened it, expelled an enourmous mass of white dust, which avalanched out of the cupboard and onto the unsuspecting and now livid Snape. The entire class roared with laughter, and Snape came storming out, looking like an abominable snowman, covered from head to toe in dust, masses of it trailing behind him.

"_BLACK!"_ he roared over the hysterical class.

-----

Everyone filed out of the classroom but Remy and Ron, who stayed behind to organize their detentions with Snape, and be yelled at by Snape. Remy stayed behind even later because Snape was so furious. He was making Ron and Remy clean out the bedpans in the hospital wing without magic, and Remy re-label all the ingredients in his store cupboard, and re-alphabetize his files.

"I don't believe it! That bastard! I don't want to spend all Friday afternoon cleaning out his ruddy store cupboard! And I can't even _remember _the bloody alphabet!" she complained, after telling Harry, Ron and Hermione about what Snape had said. They started to walk back to Gryffindor tower.

"Who's he to walk in and judge the way Lupin teaches, anyway? I reckon Lupin's the best," said Ron.

"I'll let him know of your enthusiasm," said Remy flatly.

"And I can't believe what he said to you, too, Hermione. Something got him in a foul mood. Maybe he's-"

But what Snape was would have to wait, for they had just caught sight of Filch, holding a mop and bucket, yelling at some first years, who scurried away in terror.

"I wanna know who it bloody well was!" he yelled dementedly, pointing at the floor.

"Who what was, Mr. Filch?" asked Hermione politely. Remy was wearing a grin she hadn't worn in a long time, and had to shove her fist in her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"Don't play dumb with me! I want to know who spilled _all _this ink on the floor!" he shouted hysterically, pointing at the visibly clean floor.

"I don't see anything," said Harry, inspecting the floor.

"Me neither," said Ron blankly.

"Of course you do, you rotten little- it's right here!" he shrieked. "I want whoever it was to come clean it up, because I can't get it to ruddy come off!"

"I really don't see the point in making an innocent student clean a spotless bit of floor, Mr. Filch. Perhaps you need your eyes checked?" Remy suggested indifferently.

"Don't be smart with me! It was you, wasn't it Black! It always is, you little delinquent troublemaker! Famous for it, you are! I'll prove it!"…" he muttered, scrubbing away.

"He's _really _losing his marbles, isn't he," said Ron as they walked away.

"You betcha," said Remy, smirking at Harry.

**Stay in school, kids!**

**hope you liked it**

**ciao, yelo.**

**r-e-v-i-e-w. **

**or, if you are a certain deceitful group of 'friends', don't even bother.**


	10. The Quidditch match

**hello my lovely readers (if there are any of you left)**

**Here is chapter 11! **

**Disclaimer: J.K Rowling is the most incomparable genius in the history of the world, and I am serious! dead serious! (no offence, Sirius)**

**enjoy!**

Remy awoke early on the morning of the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, head throbbing from a vision as usual, stomach churning with nerves. She threw on an old sweatshirt and tracksuit pants in the dark, and as she was leaving, she caught a glimpse of a pair of bright yellow eyes, at the dormitory door.

"Hey, get out of my way, cat. Ron's right, you've got it in for Scabbers. Shoo!"

Crookshanks scurried away, hissing bitterly at her.

She grabbed her Cleansweep, her cheap but faithful and lucky broom, and headed down to breakfast. The rest of the team was there.

"Right, team, remember our tactics, and don't slack off. This is our chance, I know we can do it," said Wood, who wasn't eating anything.

"Don't stress, Wood, we'll be fine." said Remy.

"Sure, just promise to keep your temper."

"I will if you will," she offered.

"Deal," he said half-heartedly.

As the rest of the school began to come downstairs, they set off for the Quidditch pitch in the howling wind and rain, saying nothing. Remy just had to remember to dodge down if she wanted to prevent another player getting the quaffle from her. Hufflepuff were good at high flying. And she had to play rough. Not that she didn't usually… but especially today:

"Knock them of their broom if you have to, Remy. Just get the Quaffle. You're my best chaser. I trust you, no matter how reckless you are. I know you can do it. Score as many goals as you can." Wood had said desperately to her last training session. They changed into their scarlet robes and waited for the spectators to arrive, so the match could begin. Wood couldn't even open his mouth to speak. After ages, there it was. The babble of the excited crowd drifted into the change rooms from the stands beyond. They stood up, ready to go, and Remy felt like she would be sick.

_You look ill, _Harry thought to her.

_I feel ill. Good luck. You're my hero, go out and get that snitch, _she thought encouragingly.

_For you, anything, _he thought.

"Dammit, I'll never see the snitch in this weather…" muttered Harry anxiously.

Wood looked desperate.

"You're just going to have to… try and see. Diggory won't be able to see either…" he said lowly.

"That would be plan B. Come here, four eyes." Remy said, smirking as she pulled Harry to her by the shirt. She took his glasses and waved her wand at them, performed a non-verbal incantation, and placed them back on his face.

"They'll propel water." She said pointedly. Harry looked at her in amazement.

"Wow, thanks, Rem," he said in relief. Wood looked like he could have kissed her, which kind of creeped Remy out, so she was glad when they marched out on to the pitch. Cedric Diggory and Wood faced each other and shook hands in the centre. Diggory smiled, (it was true, he was a looker!) but Wood merely nodded. They shot into the air, soaking wet already.

_------------------------------------------------_

_Harry P.O.V_

Harry flew up as fast as a bullet on his nimbus, scanning the pitch for any sign of the golden snitch, and thanks to Remy, he could actually see… time dragged on, and all Harry could make out through the wet were scarlet and yellow blurs, flying beneath and beside him. No sign of the little golden ball. He heard Lee Jordan's commentary like a badly tuned radio:

"And Black scores a third, making it 30 nil to Gryffindor!!!" and then a roar from the scarlet coloured stand. Harry swept around the pitch gracefully on his broom, at the speed of a bullet, doing a round of the entire pitch. He was up very high, looking down on the stands- when he saw it.

A great, big, shaggy black dog, silhouetted against the sky in the topmost, deserted row of seats in the empty stand. Harry immediately did a double take and almost fell off his broom- quickly regaining balance afterwards. When he looked again, it was gone. Harry blinked. Was the grim going to haunt him until he actually died-?

And then he saw it, the snitch, hovering at Diggory's left knee. He immediately swooped and dived at Diggory, who was thrown off in shock, and chased after the snitch. It turned sharply upwards, and Harry followed, sensing Diggory gaining on him. They were far, far above the pitch now, in the soaking clouds. He was ahead of Diggory now, he could feel it. He held his hand out- but just then, a familiar wave of cold swept over him… someone had turned off the volume- he could hear nothing. It was eerie. Harry looked down, and received the greatest, chilling shock of his life. A hundred dementors were swarming the pitch, flying up into the sky towards him. Harry heard his mother's voice again…

_No, not Harry, please not Harry! I'll do anything!_

_Stand aside, you silly girl-_

_Please! Have mercy! I'll do anything, anything at all, please just don't kill Harry!_

_I said stand aside!_

Then, with an echoing scream and a high-pitched, cold, cruel laugh ringing in his ears, Harry fell from his broom and knew no more.

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_Remy P.O.V_

Everyone had stopped playing. Dementors swarmed the pitch, sending an eerie chill around the whole stadium. The rest of her team were hovering together above the ground, looking apprehensive and spooked. Remy flew alone, to the side, searching for Harry. And then, ripping through the sickening silence, she heard a woman's blood-curdling scream, accompanied by a horrible, high-frequency wailing in her head which made it ache like crazy. A small moan escaped her lips as she closed her eyes and grasped her head, closing her eyes. The scream was followed by a bout of high, cold laughter, which sent chills down Remy's spine, and more throbbing aches to her head.

_She approached the door, white, long-fingered hands grasping her wand. She walked silently up the hallway, and heard heavy objects being thrown against the inside of the door-_

"No-" gasped Remy, forcing herself back to reality, where she hung in the air, watching-

And then there was Harry, falling from the sky at incredible pace, like a lifeless dummy. Right then, the only thought running through her mind, was that Harry was going to die. She was sitting there, and Harry was falling from the sky, about to die.

"_Harry!" _she screamed, and the crowd echoed her panic. She flew to the spot she thought he would fall, as fast as she could go, but the moment Harry was inches form her, he abruptly stopped, and fell with a soft thud on the ground- at Dumbledore's fast thought _Arresto momentum _from the teacher's stand. Remy landed beside him, threw her broom aside, and leant down next to him, shaking him to try and wake him up.

"Harry, wake up!! Harry, are you ok? Talk to me, Harry!" she cried desperately. Dementors immediately swooped down on them, and in a moment of panic, as quick as lightning, Remy turned around, whipped out her wand, and-

"_Expecto patronum!"_

The silver dog charged them away, and they screeched angrily as its light drove them out onto the edge of the pitch. Dumbledore was suddenly on the pitch, taking over with his own Patronus. But Remy had eyes only for Harry. She didn't take her eyes off him even as he was being dragged away on a stretcher. She followed, running alongside the stretcher as fast as her legs would carry her.

She stayed beside him for another half hour in the hospital wing, careless of what might be going in at the match now. She didn't care about stupid Quidditch. Not when Harry was lying limp and lifeless on a hospital bed before him, looking more and more like he was- no, he couldn't be dead. Even though he had fallen from that height, she could see him breathing very slowly. The rest of the team, plus Ron, Hermione and Aria, arrived later, and crowded around.

"How is he, Remy?" asked Aria

She found she couldn't speak, fiddling with her locket as a stress outlet.

"I thought he was a goner," said Fred

"Same here." Said Ron shakily

"Did you see how high he fell from?" asked Aria in a whisper.

"Did you see how angry Dumbledore was? Absolutely furious. Are you alright, Remy? You look like you've just seen a ghost," said Hermione. Remy nodded silently, her hands shaking.

"Nice work scaring off those dementors, Black. That was amazing. I never knew you could produce a fully developed Patronus! Only really advanced wizards are supposed to be able to do that," said George impressively behind her.

"I guess I have a lot of spare time to practice," She said quietly.

Fred laughed. "You never know what to expect from that kid. A ruddy Patronus… What next?" he muttered proudly.

"When does madam Pomfrey think he'll wake up?" asked Remy.

"Probably about now," said Harry's voice. He had opened his eyes.

It was then that it hit Remy. Everything was suddenly bright and colourful, and the heaviness of her existence seemed to fade away. Like the first time she had tried champagne. No, better. She realised that she could never live without Harry. Ever. The thought of losing him, compared to the wonderful feeling of having him beside her, was almost unbearable. And that scared her.

"Harry!" she squealed, throwing her arms around him.

"Hi, Remy. Am I going to wake up to that _every _time I pass out?" he laughed, hugging her back.

"I'm afraid so. How are you feeling?"

"Brilliant. How did the match go?" Everyone looked around awkwardly at each other. Even Remy didn't have a clue what happened after Harry fainted.

"Well, er- after you fell off your broom," said Fred,

"Diggory sort of… caught the snitch." Said George.

"We- we didn't _lose?_" said Harry hopelessly.

"After Diggory saw what happened, he demanded a re-match… but even Wood agrees, Hufflepuff won fair and square…"

"No! We were 90 points ahead of them! That's not fair, I think there should be a rematch." Remy said furiously.

"Give it a rest, small fry." said Ron.

Harry put his head in his hands and tugged on his hair.

"Don't beat yourself up, Harry, You're still the best seeker anyone's ever had," said George.

"Damn right," agreed Remy.

"Where's wood?" asked Harry.

"He's still in the showers; we think he's trying to drown himself.".

"And by the way, Harry, your broom… well, it sort of… smashed into the whomping willow, and… well, you know, the whomping willow doesn't really like being hit and…" Ron trailed off, and handed Harry a bundle full of smashed twigs and wood that was his reliable, faithful, and now ruined Nimbus 2001.

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_She approached the door, white, long-fingered hands grasping her wand. She walked silently up the hallway, and heard heavy objects being thrown against the inside of the door. How foolish. She raised her wand, hardly able to contain her excitement. It was a cruel and spiteful, yet satisfying excitement. And in one quick movement, she blasted the door away, sending chairs, tables, cabinets, and more furniture flying with undying velocity into the room, creating a cloud of dust and rubble. Through the smoke she saw her- a red-headed woman, shielding a cot –the cot- a look of pure terror etched upon her pretty features. A surge of power and malice swept over her._

"_Please… not Harry… please!" she shrieked as Remy approached._

"_Stand aside you silly girl," the strange words escaped from Remy's lips in a high, cruel voice-_

"NO!!" Remy screamed, sitting up. "No- what- huh?" she mumbled incoherently, finding herself facing the bright light of a fireplace, sitting in a cosy armchair. She must have dozed off: her divination homework sat unfinished in her lap. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Aria and Neville, all gathered around the fire with her, were staring at her in alarm.

"Are you alright, Remy?" asked Hermione anxiously, leaning towards her, hand outstretched in offering as if Remy might drop dead.

"I'm fine, I just- had a bad dream, that's all… and I'm not feeling too well. I'm fine, really," she rambled, as Harry stared at her in intense concern. She felt a gut-wrenching pang as she laid eyes on him, and her head throbbed even more. Harry's name… Her vision… That woman…

"I need to go to the bathroom," she said suddenly, standing up and running up the stairs, letting the tears fall down her face. She had just seen the last moments of Lily Potter's life. And she knew it. She felt so, so sick, like she had intruded on a private family business, something she was forbidden to see… she knew then that she was bad. Evil. Wrong. Remy herself was an iniquity, and she didn't deserve the friends she had. What sort of monster who saw their loved one's loved ones being murdered deserved loved ones at all? She was a horrible person, she thought, as she splashed water onto her face in the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She had to tell Harry the truth. She shouldn't keep secrets. No matter how wrong her visions were, there would be nothing more wrong than to lie to her best friend. At least she had some righteousness left in her.

_--------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Harry, I want to tell you something important, _Remy thought determinedly as they sat outside under the invisibility cloak one night against one of the castle turrets.

_Anything, _he thought back.

_You'll hate me. But if I don't tell you, you'll hate me even more, because it's important. _

_I would never hate you. Not even if you hated me. Never. _He thought fiercely, turning his head to look at her.

In that moment, those words moved her. They encouraged her. And she couldn't stop the words coming out. er- thoughts, rather.

_I see things in my sleep. Bad things. And I can't help them. When I fall asleep its like they take over me, and I'm looking at things from someone else's point of view. And it's always the same person. It's like I'm behind their eyes. And this person murders people, and- and I see it. But I don't know what they mean. I always see one of my mother being murdered. And...These people tell me things that make no sense… sometimes I just see random killings of people I don't even know. It's scary._ Remy decided it would be horrible of her to describe his mother's death_. _she wouldn't put him through that.

Harry was silent for a while. "Are you a Seer?" he asked aloud.

"I don't think so. I mean, it's not like I can predict the…" she trailed off, eyes widening.

"You _can _see the future. But- you don't know what they mean at all?" he asked suspiciously.

Remy shook her head. "I feel like a murderer. Just watching all those people being killed. What if it means _I'm_ evil? Or bad? Because I'm seeing things through the eyes of a killer. You must think I'm some sort of freak," she sighed.

"You're not a freak. I don't _care _if you see people being murdered. Nothing can change the way I see you. You're amazing. And I love about you no matter what weird things you see," he said to her firmly.

"Thanks, but I don't see why you bother," she laughed, "It could be the future and- and maybe I'm killing all those people? It's like there's something bad inside me," she said, putting her head in her hands. "You should waste your time on someone else… Not be bothered by me and my stupid visions." She knew she was right. How could he want her, love her, after what she had seen? How could you love a person like that?

"I love wasting my time on you. Because I'm not wasting my time at all. You're like my soul-mate, you know. What else could explain the fact that we can read each other's minds?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you rather someone… better? You know, someone beautiful, outgoing, normal, girl-like…" she mumbled.

"You are beautiful, though. You always have been," he said, looking into her eyes. She blushed.

"You know what I mean. Someone a little less weird."

"Maybe I like weird," he said, looking up at the stars and putting his hands behind his head.

"That explains your choice in friends," she said, doing the same. He laughed.

-There was a rustle in the bushes.

**(A/N- Russel, get out of the bush!)**

Abruptly, Remy jumped to her feet, for out of the darkness – and Harry saw it too- a pair of grey, gleaming eyes shone through the trees opposite them, staring fixedly. Remy almost had a heart attack.

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**Oooh, I've left you hanging off a cliff! sorry, that must be a tad uncomfortable. If you want to know the next bit, and crawl back up once more on to safe and non-cliff-like land, how about you...REVIEW! there's a splendid idea!**

xxYelo


	11. the truth, and its results

**Chapter 12, where you are all righteously released from your dangerously unstable grip on the cliff i created in chapter 11. The answers revealed aren not terribly life-changing: I just thought it would be fun to have a cliffy.**

**enjoy!**

**~Litara D: this chapter's for you, Here is your very well earned explaination. :-D**

**I hope you guys like this chapter!**

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"What the Fibonacci is _that?_" Remy shrieked, grabbing Harry's arm. They were frozen to the spot, staring back at the eyes in pure terror. Then, the eyes glinted, and the ear-splitting noise of furious barking broke the air, startling Remy out of her wits. It was coming from where the eyes were, and rustling and a dark shape told her it must have been an animal.

"_Lumos!" _hissed Harry, whipping out his wand and pushing Remy behind slightly behind him. Frustrated at this gesture, Remy did the same and pushed back in front.

But the eyes were gone, and all that could be seen was the flash of a dark shape disappearing into the woods, accompanied by a faint rustling sound. After that, the night was as silent and unperturbed as before, and the frantic beating of her heart slowly subsided.

That is, until they found themselves in the presence of someone even less desirable than a wild dog.

"Black and Potter," Snape's voice said silkily through the darkness.

"Howdy, professor Snape," said Remy cheerfully, staring at the potion master, who had just swept out in front of them from the darkness. His eyes were glinting malevolently. Unfortunately, it wouldn't have been possible for even Remy to talk them out of this one: they were standing, wands out, holding hands, inconveniently visible, in the middle of the school grounds, in the dead of night.

"Having a nice little stroll?" he asked through gritted teeth. Remy nodded.

"Splendid, thankyou. And yourself?" asked Remy in an incongruously pleasant voice

"Remyshutup," Harry mumbled, elbowing her, yet looking like he was about to laugh.

"_You two will get yourselves up to my office this instant, or you will wish you had never been born,"_ he hissed dangerously, and without hesitation, they sprinted up to the castle.

That dog had really frightened her out of her wits. From what she had been able to see through the darkness, it had been a large, black dog. Like the grim… why had it barked at them so suddenly? She could still see it's bright, gleaming eyes when she closed her eyes: they were eerie.

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Remy and Harry, as they had expected, received detention, bringing their overall life count up to 175. In Remy's opinion, this called for celebration. In Hermione's opinion, it called for psychiatric help. Harry, on the other hand, seemed too glum to harness any opinion whatsoever: Not just because of the detention, but because of the Quidditch match. She tried to tell him that he wasn't to blame, and that he shouldn't beat himself up over it- but he wouldn't listen. He just answered feebly in a hollow voice, "Thanks, Rem," to all her words of comfort.  
So she suggested to him that her and her uncle's should teach him how to produce a Patronus, a spell that produced a guardian between a Dementor and its victim. Its appearance was glowing and silver, and it took the shape of a different animal for every person. Remy's was a dog. He happily agreed, but was still down about his broomstick.

Remus gave Harry Dementor lessons when he wasn't ill, Remy watching on, and Remy tutored him when the full moon approached. She hoped Harry wouldn't notice this pattern.

Remy herself felt much better after telling Harry about her visions. She shared them with him almost every morning, and he listened intently, comforting her. She didn't have anymore dreams about Lily Potter, thankfully. She felt as if a load had been lifted from her shoulders: Most of it anyway. But there was still that horrible truth, hanging back in her mind. The truth, telling her that she had seen something happen through Voldemort's eyes. In the vision of Lily Potter, Remy had been the killer. Lord Voldemort. And that scared her: why on earth had she seen into Voldemort's memory? Obviously- hopefully, rather- Voldemort was dead. So why had she seen it? And whose eyes did she see her other visions through? She had never given much thought to it. There was no proof within them of whose point of view she adopted, except for the one which contained her mother: that was more like an enhanced memory.

A memory Remy hoped never to witness again.

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On the day of the Christmas Hogsmeade visit, Potter and Black, the legendary troublemakers, edged through the underground passageway, marauders map in hands. The marauders map showed every single part of Hogwarts, every person and what they were doing. They were following a passage from the castle leading directly to Honeydukes cellar.

"I can't believe we have another secret entrance!" said Remy elatedly.

"Yeah…" agreed Harry, "Thanks to good old Fred and George. It's amazing the things you can find in Filch's office…I wonder who 'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs' are?" Remy had indeed stolen the map- and it displayed an entire working map of Hogwarts, which showed every secret passageway, every person inside the castle and everything they were doing. It had led them to a passageway behind the statue of the humpbacked witch on the third floor.

When they reached the trapdoor under Honeydukes cellar, they paused to hear if the coast was clear, but found the trap-door was locked.

"Leave this to me," Remy said daringly. She concentrated for a few seconds, and pushed her head through the sealed trap-door. Where a normal person would have hit their head on the ceiling, Remy's head went straight through to the other side, as though she were transparent. She grabbed onto the cellar floor, her legs still dangling below her. She pulled Harry through with her.

"I keep forgetting you can do that!" he said, shocked.

"I'm a Transamagus. I can go through stuff, remember?" she reminded him.

"That's the coolest thing I have ever seen." He said simply. She grinned. They found Ron and Hermione in Honeydukes, looking at sweets to buy for the two of them. Remy had told them she wanted to stay behind and keep Harry company. Really, she had wanted to show Harry the marauders map. They approached Ron and Hermione.

"How about one of these for Remy?" asked Hermione, holding up a large red lollipop.

"No, they're blood flavoured. For vampires, I think," said Ron matter-of-factly. Hermione dropped it.

"Don't be so hasty, Remy does like vampires… she's read all the vampire books. We could get them some of this, I guess," suggested Ron, picking up a jar of cockroach cluster.

"Um, not my style, I'm afraid," said Remy

"Definitely not," said Harry. Ron dropped the jar with a deafening smash and Hermione squealed.

"Harry! Remy! How'd you get here?" They explained about the map.

"Wicked… but shouldn't you have the invisibility cloak on?" asked Ron.

"Look how many people there are in here, I doubt we'll be seen. More to the point, no-one knows I'm not supposed to be here." said Harry. Hermione bit her lip.

"What about Sirius Black?" she said quietly, pointing to a sign on the door.

"Do you really suppose he's going to just stroll down Hogsmeade, burst in here and slaughter him, Hermione?" asked Remy rhetorically. She remained silent.

"Come on," said Ron cheerily, "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks."

*

The taste of hot butter beer warmed Remy to the tips of her toes. The four of them sat around the wooden table, chatting merrily, when Aria, Remy and Hermione's dormitory-mate walked in the door, and waved. They beckoned her over.

"Hi, you four. I can't find Neville or my friend Luna, do you mind if I sit with you for a while?"

"Sure," they said, and she sat down. "I love this stuff," she said, as a waiter immediately put a butterbeer down in front of her.

"Erm- did you even order that?" asked Remy, looking confusedly from the butterbeer, to Aria to the waiter. Aria looked thoughtful.

"No, actually, I didn't. Oh well, I'm not complaining," she said, and took a sip.

Ron laughed and took a sip too. "Who do you reckon makes this stuff?" he asked.

"House elves, Ron," said Hermione flatly. Harry and Remy, sensing a house-elf related argument, glanced at each other warily and busied themselves with a conversation about Quidditch.

Aria put down her butterbeer. "House elves make this stuff? Do they even get paid?" she asked in disgust.

"Who cares, it tastes good," said Ron, taking another gulp.

"No, they don't get paid! And frankly, I think they should!" said a furious Hermione.

"That's horrible! So they just slave away, unpaid, so we can enjoy ourselves?" said Aria passionately.

"And their hard work goes unacknowledged to narrow-minded people like Ron!" said Hermione. Both girls beamed at each-other. Hermione had always been outraged at the treatment of house-elves.

"I can't believe you feel the same way about them as I do!" squeaked Hermione. Aria grinned, and they launched into a discussion about house elves. Harry, Remy and Ron rolled their eyes and kept talking about Quidditch.

"Look! McGonagall, Fudge, Flitwick and Hagrid!" Hermione hissed frantically, mid-sentence. Remy looked around, and sure enough, the four adults strolled through the door of the three broomsticks, bringing a chilly wind in with them as they opened the door. Hermione whipped out her wand, said a quick incantation, and the Christmas tree in the corner grew rapidly and dropped in front of their table.

They all sat down, and were joined by madam Rosmerta, who brought them drinks. Remy and Ron placed their hands on Harry's head and pushed him under the table. The five adults began chatting, at the table directly next to them.

"Thank you very much, Rosmerta my dear," said Fudge, taking his first sip of redcurrant rum. How long they would have to sit there, Remy did not know. She thought about taking a nap, as her little legs were tired from walking, and slid under the table to face Harry.

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods, minister?" asked Madam Rosmerta. Remy heard him shifting around on his chair, looking for eavesdroppers.

"What else, my dear, but Sirius Black?" At this, Remy sat upright under the table and whacked her head. She gasped with pain. Ron kicked her. Annoyed, she elbowed him back.

"_Stop it!_" hissed Aria, barely audible.

"I daresay you heard what happened up at the castle on Halloween?" said Fudge.

"I've heard rumours," Madam Rosmerta admitted. "Do you think he's still in the area, minister?" she asked

"I'm sure of it."

"It's very, very dangerous, you know. That's why the dementors are necessary… we all know what Black's capable of…" demurred Fudge.

"Yes. If you'd told me what Black was going to become, I would have said you'd had too much mead. I remember him when he was a boy."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it, Rosmerta. The worst isn't widely known," said Fudge grimly.

"The worst, minister?" she said, her voice full of curiosity.

"Oh yes. Did you know his family?"

"Of course. There was his wife Louisa and his little daughter Remy."

Remy closed her eyes, dreading what she would see when she opened them next. Ron, Hermione, Aria and Harry were all looking at her, all knowing what horrible story they were about to hear would be about. Hermione looked sympathetic. Remy's attention soon switched back to the adults' conversation, eager to hear what they had to say about her family…

"OK then. Do you remember who Black's best friend was?" asked the Minister grudgingly

"Naturally," said Rosmerta. "Never saw one without the other, did you? Sirius Black and James Potter!"

Remy dropped her butter beer as her insides were plunged into sickening ice. She panicked; it was too strange to take in. Harry dropped his tankard with a loud _clunk. _She could not meet his eyes.

"Oh how they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Black and Potter."

"Inseparable!" chimed in Flitwick

"Both very bright, of course. The biggest troublemakers the school had ever seen," said McGonagall.

"I dunno..."chuckled Hagrid. "The current Black and Potter could give them a run for their money."

"Just like their fathers, they are. Especially Black." Added McGonagall grimly, referring to Remy. "It's like James and Sirius all over again with those two!"

"Remy… Yes, I know her. She's the dark one, very pretty and very slight. Looks just like Sirius." Piped up madam Rosmerta, remembering suddenly

"And as clever as him, too!" agreed Flitwick

"And as much trouble," added McGonagall darkly.

"The Potters made Black godfather to Harry, naturally, and James was godfather to Remy. You can imagine how it would torment the boy now," said Fudge. Remy looked at Harry, jaw dropped. He looked horrified.

"He did something much worse than killing those muggles," muttered Fudge

"Terrible, terrible stuff…" agreed Hagrid

"Oh, what was it??" asked Rosmerta inquisitively

Just then, an owl came flying through the window and landed straight on McGonagall's shoulder. She gasped, and grabbed it, then fell silent. Remy presumed she was reading.

"Minister, the headmaster wishes for us to meet him in his office, and dine with him there," she explained. "Perhaps we can finish this story up at the castle?"

"Certainly," said Fudge. "Well, Rosmerta, I'm sure you're dying to hear, so let's head off," he said, standing up to leave. They all followed him out the door.

Remy watched the many feet walk out the door, and stared at Harry, eyes wide with horror.

_They did know each-other, Harry, _she thought. Harry looked half amazed and half apalled.

_We're god-brother and sister? _He thought despairingly.

_Apparently__._

They sat back up at the table, where Aria had hear head buried in her hands. Hermione was staring at Harry and Remy in shock. Ron looked awkward at the sight of Aria.

"What's wrong, Aria?" asked Remy in concern, putting an arm on her shoulder. Hermione did the same.

"I should have told you," she said quietly, looking up, her eyes fierce and full of tears. "I knew that your fathers were friends, but I didn't say anything…" she said, looking at them sincerely.

"It's alright. You hardly knew us! We didn't expect you to come right up to us and tell us, when you'd never spoken to us before," Harry said kindly, smiling. Aria smiled back, but her face fell back into a horrified expression once more.

"Erm- Aria- do you know what the 'much worse' is, by any chance?" asked Ron sheepishly. Remy's stomach did a back-flip. Did she want to _know _what the 'much worse' was?

She nodded grimly "My parents told me. Do you- do you want to hear, or should I butt out?"

"I want to hear," said Harry.

"Me too," said Ron.

"Only if you want to," said Hermione.

Remy said nothing. Aria sighed, and began to speak.

"Well, your families were close. Sirius and Louisa Black, and Lily and James Potter. The best of friends. When your parents, Harry, found out that Voldemort was after them, they wanted to confide their location in someone they could trust. That was Black. They used the Fidelius charm, which entrusts someone's secret in a single person, and as long as that person doesn't tell, the secret can never be found out. But- Black betrayed them," said Aria, glancing at Remy with an apologetic look. "He told Voldemort where they were. And then Voldemort- well, you know what happened. Harry's parents and Remy's mother were murdered. On Halloween night, dad told me that they went looking for Black straight away, but he wasn't home. That's where he and the minister for magic found you, Remy. In your house, and- and your mum was…well, Voldemort had already been when they arrived. Let's just say that. Hagrid found Harry and looked after him. Dad took Remy to an orphanage, because for some reason they couldn't find anybody else to take care of you. It- it wasn't his choice. So then, they had one more thing to take care of, and that was catching Black. He seemed to have gone into hiding. The next day, Peter Pettigrew, their friend, found Black first. Black was more powerful, and he blasted the whole street out, killing Pettigrew and twelve muggles. With one single curse. When the ministry got there, he was just laughing, and laughing… Dad said it was scary. They took him to Azkaban. And we all know what happened next," she finished.

It took Remy a while to come back to the real world, where she sat at the table, next to the person who's company, for the first time in her life, she did not desire. Remy thought Harry must not be able to look at her, as the blood of the person who caused his parents to be remorselessly taken from his life flowed through her veins. Aria looked heartbroken.

"I'm so, so sorry. I wish you didn't have to find out this way. I just thought you would want to know," she said gravely. Her face was pale, and she looked distressed.

Ron and Hermione stared at them, lost for words.

"Harry? Remy?"

Harry was glaring at her

"So that's what happened." He said coldly.

"Harry- I didn't know-"

"Whatever, Remy. It doesn't matter now, does it? He's already killed them," snapped Harry, before storming out. Remy followed.

"Fine, you moronic prick! Don't listen!" she shouted after him out the door.

"Remy, I'm really sorry," cried Aria, clutching her hair in despair. "I didn't know this was going to happen-"

"It's not your fault," Remy assured her, before standing up. "I am going to _kill _Remus Lupin!" she muttered furiously, and stormed back up to the school, not wanting to face Ron or Hermione. From the look on Harry's face, he despised her. It was all Black's fault that Harry's parents were dead. And she was a Black.

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The journey back to the girls' dormitory from Hogsmeade was unclear to Remy, who thought she must be suffering from incredible shock. She did not feel guilty because of Harry. The guilt that was settling deep down inside her was for no one but her mother. After waiting twelve years, the story of the night that had caused her to be left abandoned and alone had been told to her by a girl Remy had known for just over three weeks. Harry's parents had been killed by Voldemort when he was one, and Remy's mother had been killed by Voldemort when Remy was one. Black had betrayed the Potters, costing him his wife along with his two best friends who had trusted him. Why hadn't she linked it all? And the vision she had experienced at the start of the year, in which she had approached a house, ready to kill... It was obviously of Voldemort, on that same night. And the one in which she had awaited a man who was to feed her information... that man had been Black.  
It felt indescribably painful to think that so long ago, a relationship between Harry's family and her own existed, but was now destroyed. Black had killed three people that had been so important to him, to join Voldemort, and left Harry and Remy to suffer from it, oblivious to what was once a happy life.

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**What will happen between Harry and Remy? find out soon in: chapter 13!!!!**

**R-E-V-I-E-W**

**thankyou for reading my story :-)**


	12. Awkwardness

**Chapter 14**

**I have tried to take suggestions into consideration :-) Please review, no flames.**

**Dedicated to Phantom and Livvy, because we are fanfic buddies. :P**

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"What happened, Remy," said Remus for the eighth time that morning. Remy had stormed into his office the day after their experience in Hogsmeade, found she was lost for words, and sat down in the chair in front of his desk, glaring out the window.

She said nothing.

"Look, not that I don't appreciate your company, but you've been in here all morning, and you haven't said a word. Something is wrong," he said firmly, placing his hands on the desk and leaning forward to speak to her.

Remy looked up at him, feeling a hot surge of anger, and leapt to her feet.

"Why in the name of _Merlin _didn't you tell me!" she raged. He looked nervous.

"Tell you what?' he asked.

"THAT MY FATHER BETRAYED HARRY'S PARENTS, WHAT ELSE?" she yelled, slamming her hands down on the desk.

"Calm down, and I'll explain-"

"What, did you just _forget _to mention it? Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban and you don't think it _necessary _to tell his _daughter _that he betrayed her best friend's _parents? _What the hell are you smoking?!"

"Remy, calm _down!_ And I'm not smoking anything, thankyou very much."

"'Oh, I'll just keep Remy in the dark, because knowing something like _that _would give her a slight chance of finding out who she is!' Do you know how illogical and insulting that is? That's bad parenting, that is."

"Remy- hang on, _what_? How do you mean?"

"For neglecting your child of proper necessities! In this case, vital information concerning identity!" she said, glaring at him with eyes full of anger. He sighed.

"Who told you about it?" he asked, running a hand through his greying hair.

"None of _your _business! Why didn't you? Huh? Thought I wouldn't understand? Thought I might get hurt? Wake up and smell the roses, I _get_ hurt! It's what I do! You think one piece of information is going to matter?"

"I couldn't tell you! Would you tell your child that sort of thing?!" he asked angrily.

"Yes, I would! My father betrayed my best friend's parents! You don't think _that's _important!!?? This is Harry we're talking about! He's been in the dark about his parents all his life, and he meets someone with an opportunity for answers, and _she _doesn't even know, because _someone _didn't tell her!" she cried. He sighed again

"Remy, stop shouting. I didn't tell you, and I'm sorry. But I didn't want… _him_ to disrupt your life anymore with secrets that should have been buried a long time ago. If I had told you everything, how would Harry have felt?"

"Glad to know, that's how he'd feel! I can't _believe _you didn't tell me!"

"Some things you just shouldn't have to know."

"I deserved to know!"

"But you're so young! You shouldn't have to deal with all of this-"

"Well I have to! Harry is my best friend."

"Exactly. If you had known before hand, and you came to school telling Harry that your father is the reason his parents are dead, how do you think that might have gone down?" he asked.

"He's angry at me _now_."

"Not as angry as he would have been if you already knew. He'll get over it soon enough. I think it was better for both of you to find out together," he said finally. Remy's retort was lost.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But really, he's already betrayed them, and unfortunately there isn't anything we can do. It's all in the past. Black did a terrible thing, but I don't see why it should have to affect you and Harry."

Remy was silent in thought for a moment.

"I wish he _was _innocent. Somehow," she said softly.

"Remy, I-"

"Then Harry wouldn't hate me."

And with that, she left.

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The next morning, Remy woke up in utter amazement. She had slept, undisturbed, right through the night. No visions. For the first time since before the holidays. Beneath this new shock, she found that she felt horribly nervous and sick. Harry. How would things be between them now? It was the last day of term, and Remy knew it would be odd not giggling and whispering to Harry at the back of the class all day long.

*

"Aria?"

"Yeah?"

"It was your dad who took me to the orphanage," Remy stated simply the next day in history of magic. It didn't matter that they were whispering, because professor Binns was so lost in his drone-like reading, any student could have easily stood up and left the room unnoticed.

Aria nodded miserably. "I hope you can forgive me for keeping it from you: My dad said I shouldn't tell, not when I'm talking from a second person point-of-view. It would have been rude, to show up knowing things about you that you didn't already know, so I kept my mouth shut," she explained. Aria was really smart, Remy had noticed. It was this comment that had enabled her to understand something uncle Remus had pointed out the previous day, regarding Harry. Imagine if she had rocked up, knowing all of these things about her and Harry's dreadful past?

"It's ok, I understand how you feel. And besides, until the night after Halloween I didn't even know what your name was," chortled Remy. Aria laughed.

"Yeah, what's with that?"

"I have a very short attention span, believe it or not," said Remy matter-of-factly

"Oh? How short?" wondered Aria.

"The last thing I remember professor Binns saying is Good Morning," she said flatly.

"You mean…Good Afternoon?" corrected Aria, her lip twitching.

"See? That's exactly what I mean. Sometimes I think I'm soft in the head."

Over on the other side of the classroom, Harry was sitting at a double desk with Ron. Hermione, furious with Harry for ignoring Remy, furious with Remy for ignoring Harry, and furious with Ron for sitting with Harry, was partnered up with Neville. Remy had decided to sit with Aria for the day, and had learnt that she lived with her muggle mother and wizard father (Ethelbert the auror), and her younger brother Bill. He was in his first year. She had also learnt that Aria, too, was hopeless at potions, just like she was. Aria had seemed the best person to sit with, as she was her next closest friend besides…

"Harry looks really upset. It's a shame he won't make things up between you," said Aria quietly. Remy sighed. The fact that Harry Potter and Remy Black weren't speaking to each other shocked many people. It just didn't happen. Together they were loud and funny, being merry and cheerful, and with Fred and George, they brought the Gryffindor common room to life. Apart, things were eerily quiet and gloomy.

"Hopefully he'll get over it before we leave school. If not…I don't know. But I'm not going to apologize just for being related to a murderer." She said determinedly.

"You're right, you shouldn't have to. It's silly. Have you tried just… approaching him?" Aria suggested. Remy's stomach turned over. It might sound cowardly, but she was afraid to approach him, afraid of what he might say. Because just being without him was more than she could stand as it was, let alone what he might say to her now.

"No. I should, shouldn't I?" Remy asked dejectedly. Aria nodded apologetically. Here goes nothing, Remy thought.

_Harry?_

Harry didn't even turn his head. He stared on towards professor Binns blankly, one hand running through his messy hair. She heard no reply. Her head felt empty and… weird. Her thoughts seemed to echo inside the walls of her head, louder in the absence of their replies.

------------------------------------------------------

Remy awoke the next morning, feeling sleepy and blissful. Sleepy and Blissful? Remy sat up in alarm and pinched herself to see if she was awake. Ouch. She hadn't had any visions. Again. For two mornings in a row, she had awoken with not a stressful or disturbing thought in her head. That had almost never happened in all her time at Hogwarts. Once her pleasant surprise subsided, the dejected, frustrated feeling returned. There was no Harry to keep her company. Stupid, judgemental, childish, over-reacting git… She wanted to avoid Harry as much as possible. She couldn't bear to be confronted by him, or to have to discuss the painful topic of their parents. She wandered down to the common room, hoping Harry wasn't there, and funnily enough he reached the bottom of the boys' staircase the split second she reached the girls'. Stupid telepathic connection… they stared at each other coldly and didn't speak. Remy knew it. He hated her. Nothing would ever be the same.

"You look awful," said Ron and Hermione together, who were lounging in the common room armchairs.

"Thanks," said Harry and Remy together. Remy hadn't gotten to sleep until daybreak. She sat next to Ron and Harry next to Hermione, avoiding each other's gaze. Ron and Hermione looked at each other nervously.

"Where is everyone?" asked Harry.

"Gone! First day of the holidays!" said Ron brightly. The whole place was deserted except for the four of them.

"Come on, you two, you look so miserable!" said Hermione anxiously, peering up at them from her mass of homework.

"I'm fine," said Remy, staring at the snow that was now falling outside the window.

"Me too. Stop worrying, Hermione," said Harry, staring at Crookshanks, who was spread out in front of the fire.

"You guys, we know you must be upset about what we overheard yesterday- but please don't do anything stupid," said Hermione, looking up at them both from her homework table.

"Like what?" snapped Harry.

"Like trying to go after Black," said Ron sharply.

Harry said nothing and Remy looked away.

"You won't, will you?" said Hermione nervously.

"Do you know what I hear inside my head when a Dementor gets too close?" asked Harry fiercely.

"What _we _hear in _our_ heads," corrected Remy quietly.

"You're affected too, Remy?" asked Hermione.

Remy nodded.

"Do you know what we hear?" repeated Harry.

Hermione and Ron shook their heads.

"I hear Voldemort murdering my mum, and her begging for my life," he said.

"What does Remy hear?" asked Ron curiously. Remy panicked. She didn't want them to find out about her and Harry's connection, or her visions.

"Same thing, but my mum," she whispered, not taking her eyes away from the window. Harry looked awkward.

"Well, if you heard your mum screaming like that you wouldn't forget it in a hurry. And if someone who she thought cared about her betrayed her-" began Harry,

"There's nothing you can do! Black will go back to Azkaban, and serve him right!" said a stricken Hermione. Remy flinched.

"Azkaban doesn't affect him…" murmured Harry, shooting Remy a look.

"Just remember that I'm not my father," snapped Remy, and he looked away again.

"What, do you want to kill him or something?" said Ron, going pale.

"No- no one wants to kill anybody, right?" said Hermione in a panicky voice.

"Kill my own father? I wouldn't sink that low. The only person I'm going to kill is Remus Lupin, as I failed dismally yesterday," said Remy furiously, wringing her hands together and staring out the window. It didn't matter what Remus had said; Harry was still mad at her. Hermione looked worried.

"Remy, please don't kill professor Lupin. We've already lost two defence against the dark arts teachers, and he's our best one," said Ron.

"I'll kill whoever I darn well please," she snapped at him.

"Let's go and see Hagrid," suggested Hermione brightly. Harry looked at her.

"Yeah. I can ask him why he didn't tell me about Bl- about it."

*

Clearly, this reaction had not been what Hermione intended, but they went anyway. No-one said anything as they trudged through the snow towards Hagrid's hut.

The moment they knocked on the door, Hagrid practically fell out the door, sobbing, and collapsed onto Remy in an attempted hug, who was about one sixth of his size.

"Yeh've heard!!" he sobbed.

"Hagrid, no offence- but I think you're about to break my neck," said Remy. Hermione, Harry and Ron quickly grabbed Hagrid to save Remy from death, and together they all steered him into a chair. He was crying his heart out.

He told them, around the table, with steaming mugs of tea in front of them all, that Buckbeak was to attend a dangerous creature hearing, and that there was no chance of winning because it was Malfoy who had filed the law suit. Just as she had envisioned. She felt Harry's eyes on her for a considerable amount of time as Hagrid said this.

"And them dementors makin' me feel ruddy terrible 'nd all… s'like bein back in Azkaban," Hagrid finished, his hands shaking. Remy's stomach gave a jolt when Hagrid said Azkaban, and she looked out the window to distract herself. She hated hearing about the darned place. The others watched him with baited breath. Hagrid never talked about Azkaban.

"Is it awful in there?" asked Hermione timidly.

"Yeh've got no idea. You keep going over horrible stuff in yeh brain… bad memories… like when me dad died, and when I had ter let norbert go…" said Hagrid, his eyes filling with tears. Remy wondered what Sirius Black had thought about in Azkaban. Surely not his family. He abandoned them.

*

They spent the rest of the day in the library, researching Hippogriff cases. And, to Hermione's delight, this distracted Harry and Remy from Black. Slightly. They still weren't speaking to each other. Neither of them knew what to say. Remy supposed that Harry was reminded of Black every time he looked at her. Harry was mad at Remy for not telling him more about Black. Even though Remy herself had not known.

_You know it's not my fault. Don't be such a pig, _she thought at Harry. No reply. Again. She glared at him for ignoring her, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Hermione, we've been looking for ages! I haven't found one hippogriff trial that didn't end in slaughter!" complained Ron. They had been in there for about an hour. Hermione, who was passionate about the library, glared at him.

"Do you want to help Hagrid or not?!"

"Hermione, what on earth do you love about the library? It's full of… non-fiction books. It's creepy," said Remy bluntly.

"Be quiet! This is the library, you know," said an irritable second year Ravenclaw boy, in the midst of a small study group, who all glared at them in turn.

"We know what a library is, you twit. We're reading, you see?" Remy explained sarcastically, turning around. Harry almost laughed, but pretending to have been coughing.

"Come on, guys, let's move over to the next table. We're _never _going to be able to concentrate with someone like Remy Black in the room," sneered another boy, motioning for his friends to follow him to the next table. Remy turned around, staring straight at the opposite wall. Her face was still and her expression was deadly.

"Remy?" said Hermione nervously. Remy stood up robotically, not taking her eyes off the wall.

"I'm going to get a book," she said through clenched teeth. Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous glances as she walked slowly away towards the second years' new study area.

_Momentarily, Harry's P.O.V_

"Don't worry, she does that to settle her anger," said Harry, waving his hand in dismissal. Hermione looked at him reproachfully.

"You really have no right to be angry at her, you know," said Hermione. "She can't help what Black did. The poor thing hasn't even met her father, and people criticize her for the things he does," she said sternly in a voice barely more than a whisper. Harry groaned frustratedly.

"Hermione, I don't want to talk about it. And it's her that's ignoring me-"

"Hermione! Look what I found!" yelled Ron.

"Be quiet Mr. Weasley!" said Madam Pince's voice.

-BANG.

There was a small explosion from behind a cluster of bookcases in the back of the room. Where the second years had gone. All of them ran out, screaming, their eyebrows singed and pages everywhere. Madam Pince screamed and clapped her hands to her mouth, running over to the burnt out bookcase and looking on in horror. The books were still in perfect condition. Harry thought she was overreacting a tad. Just then, Remy's head poked out casually from the bookcase behind the wreckage, apparently reading a thick textbook, with a sly smirk across her face. Harry had to try very hard not to laugh.

"WHO DID THIS? SHOW YOURSELF!" screamed Madam Pince to the library at large. Many people poked their heads out of shelves, looking around to see who had caused all the commotion. The only sound was of Madam Pince's yells.

"And that's my cue to leave," Remy muttered, slipping out of the library. Harry, Hermione and Ron quickly followed.

"Black! Get back here!" called Madam Pince, storming over to the door.

"Sorry! I'm already gone!" Remy called back, as they all ran, top speed, away from the library.

_Remy, can I talk to you?_ He thought to her when they came to a halt. He was feeling guilty. Remy hadn't done anything wrong. Harry knew he was being obstinate. No reply. Fine, if she was going to be that way, so be it. He missed her, though. He felt like half himself.

_End of Harry P.O.V_

_*_

Despite the very few students in the quiet castle, Christmas spirit was definitely in the air that afternoon: The great hall had been decked with the usual twelve Christmas trees, and there were holly and decorations everywhere. It was so infectious that the four of them even helped the teachers (spare Lupin, who was ill) put up the tree decorations in the great hall- if, in Remy's case, you can call throwing snowballs at Snape at every opportunity decorating. She also flung Christmas baubles at him with her slingshot wherever he passed.

"BLACK!" Snape had bellowed from the entrance hall, standing in the doorway amongst a pile of shiny ornaments, as he had been hit with a torpedoing snowball as he passed the great hall with an enormous box of Christmas decorations in his arms. Remy, who was up the front near the staff table with the others, slingshot in hand, shrugged.

"It wasn't me, professor," she said. Ron and Harry snorted and Hermione just shook her head.

"You are very, _very_ lucky you have school holidays, you insolent girl! Otherwise you would have detention with me every single day from today to the end of next month! If I catch you throwing _anything _ever again, I might reconsider letting you off!" he yelled. Remy was trying not to laugh.

"Whatever you say, sir."

"Severus, please refrain from yelling so loudly. Miss Black is just here, after all, I'm sure she can hear you," said McGonagall, frowning from the Christmas tree her and Professor Sprout were decorating.

"And Black, please try to be less troublesome," she sighed, before turning back to the job. Snape and Remy glared at each other for a moment, before Snape stormed out of the Great hall, his black robes billowing behind him like an oversized bat.

"I think I got off pretty easy," said Remy.

-------------------------------------------------------

For the next two days, they did the same sort of thing: help with Christmas, and search for help for the Hippogriff trial. But over those two days, Remy had not one vision, and not one thought from Harry. Her head felt scarily empty and quiet without his voice. Like she was half herself. But her head was also free of pain and frightful murders. Which did she prefer her head to be? Dormant, or overcrowded?

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**Tune in next time for chapter 15... Hope you liked it! review me!**


	13. CHRISTMAS!

**THIS AUTHORS NOTE IS CRUCIAL TO THE POINT OF THE POSSIBLE OCCURANCE OF EARTH'S IMMEDIATE DESTRUCTION!  
Now that I have your attenttion, I have decided to change something that I can no longer go back and edit. Remy can no longer perform a corporeal patronus, only a shield of silver light, like Harry. she is not an animagus, (my bad) she just knows a spell that can turn her into an animal for a short space of time, and the animal she chooses is a black dog (co-incidence? possibly!).**

**I hope you all like chapter 15, and thankyou all so much for your lovely reviews, I truly appreciate them :-)**

**For Liv and Phantom, who made me love fanfic, and ALWAYS review me with the bestest of advice no matter what!**

**Christmas. (how appropraite!)**

Remy awoke, in peaceful bliss yet again. She couldn't believe it: No visions, no headaches, no strange voices in her head. But why had her visions stopped? Not that she wanted them back: she just wished she knew the answers to their disappearance. It seemed like she could either have one thing or the other: Harry, or a clear and undisturbed head. It was true, and Remy couldn't deny it now. When she was distant to Harry, the visions faded away. The closer she got to him, the worse they became. What did she prefer? She then remembered something. It was Christmas! How the hell had she forgotten Christmas? Hermione was still asleep, so she grabbed her pile of presents, and tiptoed into the boys' dormitory in her pyjamas, where Ron had just awoken Harry.

"Hi, you guys," she said meekly, heart pounding at the sight of Harry. "Merry Christmas," she said quietly, struggling with the weight of the presents. She must've looked a sight, as her face was hidden by them, she being so small. Harry looked like he wanted to be standoffish with her, but couldn't. His face broke into a grin at the pathetic sight of her.

"Merry Christmas," he replied.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas, midget," teased Ron. She wasn't _that _short, was she? She was just a lot shorter than Harry, and Ron, who was on his way to being Hagrid material. Remy stuck her tongue out and unloaded her presents at the end of Ron's bed. They began ripping them open. They found they had all received a home-made sweater from Mrs. Weasley, and some homemade fudge.

"I love your mum, Ron. She's the coolest," said Remy, pulling on her dark blue woollen sweater with the letter R stitched onto the front in orange. Ron blushed furiously. She had received ink pellets (ammo for her infamous slingshot) and a box of every flavour beans from Ron, a pair of Quidditch goggles and a copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula, as she had misplaced hers five chapters from the end, from Harry, a copy of a Zonko's book, '101 most hilarious jinxes' from Remus, and each of them received a homework planner from Hermione.

"Trust Hermione to get us something like _that,_" said Ron, throwing his against the wall, just as Remy reached a long, thin package wrapped in brown paper.

"What the hell is this?" asked Harry and Remy at the same time, Remy carefully avoiding his gaze. It was still a bit awkward after yesterday. Then she realised Harry too held the same long, thin package in his hands.

"You guys got the same present? Open them!"

They shrugged and ripped open the packaging- and out from each fell two shiny, mahogany firebolts onto the floor.

"Oh my god." Remy couldn't think of anything else to say. She was shocked. Someone out there really loved her; that was for sure!

"Are those- are those _firebolts?" _said Ron hoarsely, standing up and standing over them. Remy and Harry nodded numbly, then jumped up and started hugging each other, chanting-

"We've got firebolts! We've got firebolts!" and swinging each other around, all awkwardness completely forgotten. Remy was ecstatic. Ron cheered with them.

"Who _sent _it!!??" wondered a flabbergasted Ron when they had all calmed down.

Neither of them had come with a note or card.

"Who could have? Dumbledore? He got you that invisibility cloak," Ron pointed out, as they all gathered round the two brooms as if they were sacred relics of a strange religion.

"Nah, that was my dad's. And he can't just go giving away free stuff to students."

Just then, as she pushed all of her wrapping paper aside, Remy saw a flash of gold, and a small gold key fell out of the mass of wrapping and ribbons.

"What the-" she started, picking it up and stowing it in her pocket. How did that get there? Maybe Uncle Remus had given her a spare gringotts one, as she had not told him her wallet had been sent back to her. Oops.

"What is it, Rem?" asked Ron.

"Nothing," she said offhandedly, as Harry stroked the twigs on the end of the broom.

"Oh my- you guys, I know who sent them to you!" said Ron, jumping up on to his bed and stuffing a chocolate frog in his mouth.

"Who?" they asked in unison.

"Lhhbhhd iigghd!!" came a strange noise from Ron's mouth, which was incidentally occupied with another activity besides talking.

"_What?" _

Ron swallowed with great difficulty.

"Lupin did!"

Remy snorted. "No way! He doesn't love me that much. And he's very touchy about brooms, ever since I broke my cousin's arm when I was nine by knocking him out of the sky…"

"And he got Remy a present already," Harry reminded them.

"And, he's dirt poor," said Remy, voicing what they were thinking.

"Wow… firebolts… you know, they can climb from 0-100 miles an hour in just three seconds? They're the fastest broom there is, faster than the nimbus 2001s, and Malfoy-" Ron stopped, and appeared to be choking.

"Are you okay-?"

"You guys- Malfoy! Can you imagine the look on his face when he sees these?" Ron gasped, and proceeded to roll around on his bed with laughter. Harry and Remy joined in.

"What are you three laughing about?" asked a stern voice. Hermione was standing in the doorway, holding a very grumpy looking Crookshanks.

"Look what Harry and Remy got!" Hermione didn't look very pleased.

"Who sent them?"

"Who cares?" asked Harry rhetorically, holding his Firebolt in the air, examining it from every angle.

"Can I have a go, you guys?" asked Ron desperately.

"I don't think anyone should be riding those just yet!" said Hermione furiously, staring at the broom.

"What do you expect Harry and Remy to do with them, Hermione, sweep the floor?" asked Ron sarcastically, as Remy and Harry looked at Hermione like she was mad.

"No, it's just that- well, that's supposed to be a… fairly good broom, isn't it?" She asked.

"It's the best broom there is, Hermione," said Remy flatly.

Hermione pursed her lips and said nothing.

*

After a few games of chess and exploding snap, and admiring each other's presents, they all headed down to Christmas Lunch. Harry stopped Remy as they were about to leave through the portrait hole, and took a deep breath.

"Rem, I want to say something," he said, looking her directly in the eye. This was the moment she had to choose. Harry, or a worry-free mind?

"Me too," said Remy. Harry continued on recklessly.

"I want to say I'm sorry I got angry at you after what happened the other day. I'm sorry. I was angry about Black, so I needed someone to be mad at, and-"

"And I looked most like him? And I was the only person in the room who had his blood?" asked Remy rather coldly.

Harry nodded guiltily. "I didn't have any right to- I'm so-"

"Don't apologize, I understand. I'm sorry I called you a-"

"A moronic prick? That's ok. I was one. I'm really sorry that-"

"It's ok that you got mad. He killed your parents. You had a right to be mad," she said, putting a finger up to his lips.

"Yeah, but not at you," he said earnestly, looking her dead in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Remy," he said, before kissing her on the cheek and leading the way out the portrait hole. Remy was blushing furiously.

_I missed having you in my head, _he thought to her once they were out. Remy whipped her head around. First, she was surprised to hear his voice in her head again, and secondly, what he said shocked her.

"You mean you couldn't hear me?" she asked.

"Huh? You didn't think to me once in… that brief space of time." he said.

"Yes, I did, but you ignored me."

"No, _I _did, but you didn't reply," said Harry perplexedly. Weird, thought Remy.

"That is so strange. We- we couldn't hear each other," said Remy.

Harry stared at her. "Let's never ever fight again, ever," he said firmly. Remy smiled briefly, but continued to analyse the situation. There had always been something odd in the fact that Harry and Remy could read each other's minds. But not being able to was even odder.

*

They entered the great hall to find one, long table running down the centre, covered with Christmas food, and eight people seated at it: Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout, Mr. Filch, and two very nervous looking first years.

"Come and join us!" said Dumbledore cheerfully. "As there are so few people it seemed foolish to use the house tables," he explained. The only four seats left were next to Snape, and to Remy's dismay, she was left sitting next to him. There was a look of pure abhorrence and terror on her face as she sat down. Snape didn't look too pleased about the seating arrangements, either. McGonagall glared at them both and they dropped the horrified expressions. Everyone began helping themselves to food.

"Crackers!" said Dumbledore enthusiastically, offering one end of his to Snape, who took it reluctantly and tugged, and with a bang, the cracker exploded to reveal a witches hat, topped with a stuffed vulture.

Remy choked on her pie and Harry and Ron sniggered, remembering Neville's Bogart. Snape was glaring at Remy as if he truly wished for her to choke to death. Harry thumped Remy on the back.

"Nice hat, professor. I think it suits you," said Remy politely. Even McGonagall cracked an amused smile.

"Why can't they just- _cancel_ Christmas…," muttered Snape exasperatedly, stabbing his turkey as though it was Harry or Remy. Dumbledore gladly swapped his wizard hat with Snape's hat, and they continued eating.

As Remy was helping herself to some potatoes, in walked- or floated, more appropriately- Professor Trelawney, showing absurd similarity to a dragonfly in her glittery robes.

"Sybil! What a pleasant surprise!" said Dumbledore.

"Pleasant?" murmured Harry, catching Remy's eye and grinning.

"I have been crystal gazing, headmaster!" she said dramatically, stopping at the table. "It was then that I foresaw myself abandoning my post and coming down here to join you!"

"You foresaw it? Are you sure you didn't just get hungry?" asked Remy, an eyebrow raised.

"Quite sure, Miss Black."

"Here, Sybil, allow me to draw you up a chair," offered Dumbledore.

"Oh no, Headmaster- I must not! If I join you, we shall be thirteen!" she announced in a horrified voice counting the number of seats at the table with her magnified eyes.

"Your…point?"

"My point is, Black, that the first to rise from the table will be the first to die!" she said, covering her mouth with her hands. Remy closed her eyes.

"The first person to get up will be Ron, and he'll be the ninth to die," said Remy. Ron looked terror-stricken.

"My dear girl, how on _earth _do you keep doing that!" cried professor Trelawney in irritation. Remy shrugged.

"Thankyou for that pleasant update, Miss Black," said Professor McGonagall dryly. "Sybil, please sit down, the Turkey's going cold."

Trelawney sat down, closing her eyes and holding her breath as if the moment she sat down the whole table would detonate.

"Ah, but where is dear professor Lupin?" asked Trelawney.

"I'm afraid the poor fellow is ill again," said Dumbledore, briefly catching Remy's eye. "Such a shame, on Christmas day…"

"I'm afraid professor Lupin will not be with us for much longer, and he knows his time is short. He positively fled when I offered to crystal gaze for him-"

"Imagine that," said McGonagall dryly. "Black, I do suggest that you desist in trying to saw your plate in half," sighed professor McGonagall. While glaring at Trelawney, Remy seemed to have disregarded the task of cutting up her turkey, and was now aimlessly sawing her knife against her plate.

When they had all finished eating, Ron, then Harry and Remy stood up to leave.

"My dears! Which one of you left his seat first! Or hers…" demanded Trelawney in a voice of pure terror.

"I did," said Ron quietly, looking petrified.

"Not to worry, Weasley, I'm sure none of you are going to die anytime in the near future… not unless there is a mad axeman waiting outside to slaughter the first person to walk into the entrance hall," said McGonagall. Trelawney glared at her. Chortling, the three of them walked into the entrance hall, which was completely devoid of mad axe-men. (A/N I couldn't resist putting that great line by J.K in, it's one of my faves! :-) Hermione stayed behind to talk to McGonagall, for some reason.

Having no teachers around, Remy and Harry decided to have a duel on the grand staircase with their firebolts, for no reason. They flew from staircase to staircase, evenly matched in their duel. Ron kept count of the score, laughing and cheering.

"Ha-ha Potter! Can't catch me?" jeered Remy, flying from one staircase to another, sending a stupefy jinx at him. Both of them put on mock villainous voices.

"Admit it, Black, you're scared because I'm bigger than you," he sneered back, trying not to laugh and taking a dive at her. She dodged brilliantly, looping around a staircase.

"Scared? Of you? Hah! I'm more scared off fluffy kittens than I am of you!" she said, restoring herself from his jelly-legs jinx and throwing a bat-bogey hex at him.

"Missed me," he said, grinning, flying out of the way of her hex.

"Not for long!" she said, jumping up a level. Agility was definitely on her side. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and saw him sending Rictumsempra at her. She dived out of the way just in time, opening her eyes to see the purple jet fly past her. They each scored a couple more times. Remy had just knocked Harry down a flight of stairs with a Knock back jinx, and was hovering at full height shouting:

"Ha-ha-ha! Hogwarts is MINE!!! Who's bigger now, Potter?!" in a high pitched voice, when Hermione and McGonagall appeared at the foot of the staircase, looking up at them. McGonagall looked grim and Hermione was red-faced, hidden behind a book. Remy stopped with her arms in mid-air, mouth hanging open; Ron stared puzzledly at Hermione; and Harry climbed to his feet from a couple of staircases below Remy, hair dishevelled, broomstick in hand, looking at Hermione and McGonagall curiously.

"Black and Potter! Would it kill you to abstain from being such imbeciles?! Is that really appropriate behaviour anywhere, let alone the school staircase? You are acting like a pair of wild, unruly primates!" she said, her mouth thinning and nostrils flaring.

"Sorry, professor," apologised Harry. Remy was still hovering up about seven levels, grinning like a fool. She swooped down and pulled in next to Ron, staring at Hermione.

"Hello, professor McGonagall," she said brightly.

"Black. Potter. I have heard that you both received broomsticks for Christmas." She said curtly.

"Yeah," said Harry, appearing beside Remy.

"They didn't come with cards or a note of any kind?" she asked suspiciously, taking Harry's and examining it carefully.

"Er, no," said Remy, feeling the small key in her pocket furtively.

"I see," she said, taking Remy's and examining it too.

"Professor, what exactly are you-" began Harry.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take these for a while," she said solemnly.

"What the hell-"

"'The hell', Black, is that Miss Granger had expressed to me a suspicion that these brooms may be dangerous," she explained.

"What are you going to do to them?" asked Ron hoarsely, going pale.

"Professor Flitwick and I may have to strip them down and check for hidden jinxes."

Harry, Remy and Ron stared at McGonagall like she had lost her mind.

"Have you lost your mind?" demanded Remy furiously.

"Miss Black!" cried McGonagall, outraged.

"Sorry. But have you?"

"Please, professor- don't take them! They're perfectly safe- we were just riding on them!" begged Harry. Ron looked as if he would be sick.

"I'm sorry, you three, but I have no choice! It really isn't that much of a deal!" she said exasperatedly, and stalked up to her office on the first floor with the brooms in hand. Remy's mouth was hanging open, staring after her. She felt she would faint.

"_What did you go to McGonagall for?" _they all shouted at Hermione. She pulled the book away from her humiliated face.

"Because I thought- and so did McGonagall- that those brooms were probably sent to you by Sirius Black!"

_______________________________________________________________________

**Aw, Hermione! what did you do that for???!!! Harry and Remy made up! Yay! **

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**p.s, special thankyou to ** XVampWitchCatX and XxXLIFEafterDEATHXxX for their frequent, constructive and encouraging reviews! you made my day!


	14. The return!

The morning after Christmas, Remy's undesired visions were back to normal. This put her in a bad mood for the rest of the holidays, as their absence had been like a blessing. A very short blessing. Remy, Harry and Ron were furious with Hermione. They didn't speak to her at all for the remainder of the holidays, or even after that. The rest of the students returned shortly after new years, and the castle was busy and noisy again.

After their first defence against the dark arts class (during which Remy completely ignored Remus, and Harry, Ron and Remy ignored Hermione), Harry stayed behind to ask about Dementor lessons, and Lupin agreed. Their first class was on Thursday.

"Looks ill, doesn't he?" Ron observed as they walked back to Gryffindor tower.

"Yeah, and tired," said Harry. "Is he well, Remy?"

"I'm not sure. He might just be getting old, and tired because of…well, me," she said convincingly. Harry and Ron laughed.

"I wonder what's wrong with him, though," said Ron thoughtfully. There was a 'tuh!' sound from behind them. Hermione was sitting down beside a suit of armour, re-packing her bag.

"What are you tutting us for?" snapped Ron.

"Nothing," she said exasperatedly, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Yes, I said I wonder what's wrong with Lupin, and you made a 'tuh' noise," Ron corrected her.

"Well it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" she said with a look of frustrating superiority. Remy's stomach went icy cold. Did Hermione know?

"If you don't want to tell us, don't," snapped Ron. She stormed off.

"She doesn't know," said Ron. But maybe she did?

-----------------------------------------------------------------

When Oliver Wood found out that they had received and lost firebolts on the same day, he looked as if someone close to him had just suddenly passed away. Ravenclaw had lost to Slytherin in the latest Quidditch match, giving Gryffindor a better chance in the running.

"_What? Firebolts?? _Harry- Remy- let me talk to McGonagall, I'll make her see sense! Why did she take them??" he said frantically.

"Er, they think they were sent to us by- erm, by-" Remy began,

"Sirius Black. He's meant to be after me," finished Harry.

"Yeah, yeah, but- a Firebolt? Who cares who it was sent by!" He raved, apparently nonchalant to the fact that a mass-murderer had very resolute intentions to make his seeker his next victim

"I'll talk to her, you guys. She's insane…" he muttered, before walking away briskly towards the first floor. They shrugged at each other.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry's first dementor lesson took place on Thursday. Remy had decided to be the assistant, much to the disquiet of Lupin. He was probably worried that she was still angry, and would blow something up. Lupin had a large chest with a bogart in it- that would turn into a Dementor for Harry. Poor thing heard his parents again when his patronuses didn't work. Remy heard them inside her own head when he did. James screamed for Lily to take Harry and run- then when Voldemort approached her she screamed for her son's life… it gave her shudders to think about, as she had not only been offered the audio version of the potters' murder in her head, but the visual, too.

By his third go, he had chosen a happy memory to think of. Remy closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to penetrate his thoughts: He had chosen the memory of meeting Remy herself. She and Harry were sitting in the compartment of the Hogwarts express, laughing at something they had joked about. Remy grinned to herself as she exited Harry's thoughts. They had both been so young and carefree… so unlike now, when they had murder and betrayal to worry about.

He was then able to produce a large, silver cloud, protecting him from the foul, hooded creature.

"Oh my god, Harry- even I didn't get it after three goes! It took me ages. I couldn't find a happy enough memory," Remy told him, impressed, when Remus had shut the lid and handed her and Harry some chocolate.

"Isn't it supposed to be an animal?" he asked confusedly, straightening his glasses.

"That's a corporeal Patronus. But that takes time," Remus explained. "The fact that you can produce anything at all after three tries is phenomenal, though," he said amazedly. Remy nodded in agreement.

"I can't make a corporeal patronus yet, either…" mumbled Remy thoughtfully. She wondered what form her patronus might take. (**A/N- remember, she can't produce a corporeal patronus yet!)**

"I wonder what mine will be?" wondered Harry.

They sat down to some butterbeer, and Remy had had to stamp on Harry's foot to shut him up about loving the stuff. Remus was under the impression that Harry had never set foot in Hogsmeade. After a few sips, Harry asked Remus what was under a dementor's hood. Remy's hand froze around her butterbeer in midair.

"The only people who know are in no condition to tell us. The Dementor lowers its hood to deliver its last -and final- weapon, the dementor's kiss. It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black if the dementors find him," he said quietly. "They suck out your soul," he said with a haunted look on his face. Harry looked horrified. Remy shuddered, but caught Harry's eye and felt a surge of anger.

"He deserves it," she whispered, before taking a gulp of butterbeer. Harry nodded slowly.

"You think anyone deserves that?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, for… for some things," Harry said feebly, looking at Remy and then back down at his butterbeer. Remus looked at Remy meaningfully.

"It's about that thing you told me about, isn't it Remy," he said. Remy shrugged.

"How did you two find out, anyway?" asked Remus suspiciously. Remy automatically snapped at him

"None of your-"

"We overheard a conversation," Harry cut in. Remus looked grave, and Remy was glaring at him ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry you had to find out that way. It's getting late, you ought to get to bed," he said.

They thanked Lupin and headed up to the Gryffindor common room. Both of them were so immersed in horrible thoughts about Black and dementors, that they didn't bother saying anything out loud, and just shared thoughts. Therefore both of them got a fright when they ran headlong into McGonagall on the staircase.

"Black! Potter! Do watch where you are going," she said exasperatedly.

"Sorry, professor," they said.

"Here, your brooms have been checked, and they appear to be perfectly safe," she said, handing them two firebolts. Remy gaped at her, unable to say anything.

"Are you serious?" asked Harry, bewildered, holding his broom out in front of him in amazement.

"No, she's McGonagall," Remy muttered.

"Yes, Potter. You can have them back. All I can say is that you both have a very good friend out there somewhere," she said, smiling, before sweeping off in the other direction. Remy flung her arms around Harry in joy, who blushed slightly, before they both sprinted up to the common room to tell Ron. He was ecstatic.

"Wicked! That's amazing, you guys! You'll kill Slytherin, I know it," he said.

After making it up with Hermione, Ron went upstairs to put away Harry's firebolt, and Remy and Harry stayed to talk to Hermione about her suspiciously high pile of homework- but just moments later, Ron's scream, followed by Ron's self came racing down the stairs. He was holding a bed sheet, at the bottom of which appeared to be blood.

"BLOOD! SCABBERS IS GONE!" he screamed, shaking it in Hermione's face. She looked rather frightened. "AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS AT THE END OF THE BED?"

"N-no, what?" she stuttered timidly. Ron threw something down onto Hermione's arithmancy chart, which as he took his hand away, appeared to be several long, spiky ginger cat hairs.

"YOUR STUPID CAT!" He bellowed at her, his eyes gleaming furiously. Remy broke the silence that followed by sneezing. She was allergic to cats.

"Er… I-" (sneeze) "Have to be somewhere. Ciao," said Remy, sensing a very heated conflict and wanting to remove herself form the tense atmosphere as quickly as possible. She and Harry practically flew from the scene, Remy sneezing violently their whole way out.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Harry and Remy both agreed. It was going to take a phenomenon to ever mend things between Ron and Hermione. Both were so angry that neither Harry nor Remy foresaw them ever making up. Ron insisted that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, and was furious that she had just let him roam around the common room, and that she had never listened to Ron's requests of keeping Crookshanks away from Scabbers. Hermione insisted that anything could have happened to Scabbers, and that the cat hairs could have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been prejudiced against Crookshanks ever since he had landed on Ron's head at the magical menagerie. Of course, Harry and Remy knew that Crookshanks had obviously eaten Scabbers, and on expressing this opinion to Hermione, they were snapped at by her. But they had other things to worry about. The Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match was coming up, and the Gryffindor team were practising non-stop. This, along with anti-Dementor lessons, seemed to be draining Harry immensely. Wood was training them hard to beat Ravenclaw, much to Ron's benefit, as he got to have a go on the Firebolt. It was excellent- they all agreed that there was no better feeling than flying at top speed on the best broomstick in the world.

The Gryffindor team flattened Ravenclaw in the Quidditch match. It was astounding. Remy, Angelina and Katie seemed to score goal after goal with apparent ease, Remy especially on her new broom, and Harry fought off dementors, before an absolutely spectacular catch of the golden snitch. It had been tantalisingly out of reach, and Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker, had fallen behind. When it was lingering on his fingertips, dark, cloaked figures had swept out onto the pitch. Remy had began to feel hopeless, thinking that yet again the dementors would foil Gryffindor's victory- but Harry had pulled out his wand, cast a quick-thought Patronus and grabbed the snitch, all in the space of one second. Legendary.  
While the crowd roared, the team swooped down on Harry, Remy wrapping her arms around him first and kissing him on the cheek. The crowd swarmed out onto the pitch, cheering the new Quidditch champions. It turned out it had been Malfoy, Flint and Goyle impersonating dementors, and the sight of McGonagall yelling herself hoarse at them added to their utter elation.

"Party in the Gryffindor common room!" Fred, George and Remy had cried, hoisting Harry onto their shoulders and, the Gryffindors following, parading back to the castle.

It certainly was an incredible party. The common room had been decorated to the extreme, and after Remy, Fred and George had returned with plentiful stock of food and drink from Hogsmeade, the celebrations began. Hermione remained in a corner, trying to study over the noise, while everyone else went on partying.

"Ron, why don't you lay off?" Remy snapped at Ron, who was eating a cauldron cake, and had just made a loud remark about what a shame it was that Scabbers wasn't here.

"Yeah, give her a break. She's got enough homework to stress her out without you being a prat to her," said Harry.

"It was her cat, not mine. I told her to keep it away from Scabbers," he said indignantly. Harry rolled his eyes and dragged Remy away to the drinks table.

The party went on, until professor McGonagall turned up at one in the morning with her hairnet on, telling them all to get to bed. Everyone filed up to their dormitories, but Remy hung back, waiting for Scott Elbury, a fourth year, to emerge from his dormitory and join her. He had asked her for a date, and when she had asked 'when?' he had replied, 'after the party, of course.'

*

Scott had been very interesting company on their walk around the black lake. They had stationed themselves on the bank and talked and joked(maybe kissing a couple of times…), and eventually lost track of time. Just a usual date. Remy was beginning to wonder why they didn't feel so special anymore. The only time she really felt special was…

"We should get back," Remy said, still grinning from something he had just said. He looked disappointed, but agreed. They made their way back up to the castle together- but just before they reached the grand staircase, someone whispered her name out of the darkness. She told Scott to go on without her, and that she would only be a minute. Remy looked around to see who had called her name.

Mob's head poked out from behind a statue, accompanied by another boy with black hair, startling her immensely.

"AH! HOLY- Mob? What's up?"

"A guy in my house saw us with my motorbike outside, and he's gone to tell professor Sprout!" hissed Mob in despair.

"Little twerp…" said the black haired boy.

"So we need a distraction to divert Sprout, so we can get safely back to the common room without being killed," explained Mob. "Any ideas?"

"Does Professor Sprout have plant senses?" asked Remy abruptly, after a brief moment of thinking. They looked at her strangely.

"Remy, kiddo, this isn't a joke," said Mob, frowning in bewilderment.

"And I wasn't joking," replied Remy brightly. "Goodnight, you guys, I have to get to bed," she said, as if nothing had happened.

"Remy! You have to help us!" said Mob desperately. Remy turned around and grinned.

"Go back to the Hufflepuff common room in about twenty minutes. She won't be there," she added confidently, before bounding away towards the Herbology greenhouse.

*

After successfully setting devil's snare on the mandrakes, attracting almost immediate attention from Professor Sprout (Remy could tell by the screams she heard five minutes afterwards), Remy made her way back to Gryffindor tower. And when she crept back into the common room, she greatly feared that it would be the last thing she ever did.

"BLACK!"

"Hi, Professor McGonagall," said Remy. She was standing in the middle of the common room before all of the Gryffindors, who were in their pyjamas. The attention seemed to have been centred around Ron- that is, until Remy walked into the room.

"How _dare _you wander the castle at this hour of night! It is extremely dangerous!" she said furiously, her nostrils flaring.

"I was just going for a walk, Professor, keep your hairnet on-"

"Excuse me-?"

"Professor, this is important! There's no time! I really did see him, it wasn't a dream!" urged Ron, who was ghastly pale. Harry was looking at Ron in concern, as was Percy, Fred, George and everyone else crowded around him.

"What's going on?" she asked incredulously, frowning.

"We think Ron has had a bad dream."

"_It wasn't a dream, Perce_! It was Sirius Black- standing over my bed with a knife!" impelled Ron in a panicky voice. Remy's entire body froze up.

"Mr. Weasley, that is a ridiculous allegation," said McGonagall, as everybody in the common room stared at Ron in shock.

"It's not! I saw him, I swear! My curtains are ripped, I'll prove it! He came in, slashed the curtains, and ran out! Then I screamed, the lights came on, and everyone came over to my bed, and I _told _them- and he'd already gone! I swear, professor-"

"Alright," said McGonagall curtly, walking over to the portrait hole. "I shall ask sir Cadogan."

There was silence as she walked away, and every head turned to Remy.

"Why would he slash the curtains and leave?" asked Harry through the silence.

"Dunno. Is he mentally unstable?" muttered Remy.

"We thought you might know more about it, _Black,_" sneered a second year boy. Everyone else was staring at her. Remy had to try very, very hard not to lunge forward and strangle him.

"You insolent little twerp- How _dare _you even insinuate-" she began to snarl-

"Shhh!" shushed Hermione, gesturing to the sealed portrait hole. Everyone listened to the voices outside it with baited breath.

"Sir Cadogan, did you let a man through here just now?" said McGonagall impatiently.

"Certainly, dear lady!"

"You- you _did? _Why on _earth _did you let him in! What about the _password?_" McGonagall asked angrily.

"He had 'em all on a little piece of paper! I have committed no crime, my noble lady-"

McGonagall cut him off by barging through the portrait hole.

"Which _foolish _person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?" she asked in a deadly voice.

Over the heads of the crowds, Neville's hand ascended slowly into the air, trembling from head to toe.

"Mr. Longbottom, how _dare _you! How could you have been so utterly stupid? I am very, very disappointed- you have endangered your entire house, and thanks to your actions, a mass murderer has broken into your very own common room! Do you have _any _idea how much danger you have caused your classmates?!" she shouted. Nobody else spoke.

"And conveniently, Remy Black was 'taking a stroll' when he came in," said a fourth year girl slyly.

"I didn't see anyone! I went out at like 1.15 and came back just then! You saw me come in! I didn't see anything! I didn't even know what you were _talking _about until Ron said he saw the prick come into the room!" cried Remy in outrage. Many people glared at her, but Harry, Ron, Hermione, Aria, Neville, Fred, George, Ginny and Percy did not.

"I do not believe you have seen Black or had anything to do with him, Miss Black, but what _were _you doing out of bed?" asked McGonagall, eyes narrowed.

"I was- erm…" she muttered, feeling like a deer in headlights. Everyone was staring at her expectantly. She had to do this without getting Scott in trouble, or revealing to everyone that she had been on a date with him in the middle of the night. That could cause some unnecessary suspicions. She caught Scott's eye very briefly.

"I met up with a guy from another house," she said quickly. Many students nudged their friends and whispered things in their ears, and girls giggled quietly. Remy glared at them murderously.

"And who might that be? What were you doing out of bed?" asked McGonagall angrily.

"Just a Hufflepuff guy. He keeps my motorbike for me. Just muggle mechanical stuff, you wouldn't understand," said Remy, waving the matter away as unimportance.

"I see. And you came back inside, and saw nobody exiting the common room?"

"No," she said fiercely.

"Very well, you will have a detention tomorrow night-"

"With who?"

"Professor Snape," said McGonagall impatiently. She knew Remy despised Snape. "And ten points will be taken from Gryffindor. Mr. Longbottom- you will have detention with me for two weeks, ten points from Gryffindor and everybody is forbidden to tell Neville the Gryffindor password, am I clear?" she said sharply. Neville looked down at his toes in shame.

Remy was numb with shock. she hadn't seen anybody leaving the common room. but had someone seen her going in? she could have been standing right next to him outside the portrait, and she wouldn't have even known. the thought chilled her to the bone. She marveled at fact that Hary was still alive. his life had been on the brink of destruction- and it seemed luck alone had made Black scram. Remy wished there was something more she could do to protect Harry. but there wasn't.


	15. byebye MM!

**Sorry i didn't put an authors note at the start of my last chapter, I think i was drunk or high or something. (Not really!)**

**thanks again for your wonderful reviews, and I hope you like this chapter. the story is coming to it's exciting close in the next few chapters, so stay tuned!**

**p.s- I'd like to celebrate reaching my 60th review, and say thankyou to Livvy27, as she was my 60th reviewer! **

**to phantom and Livvy, as always!**

**ENJOY OR ELSE! MWAHAHAH**

**_________________________________________________________________________________**

"_Do they think it is you?" Remy said in a high, cold voice, looking down on a man whose face was concealed by shadow. The words spilled from her mouth automatically, for she was no longer herself, but the subject of this vision…_

"_No, my lord, they do not. Is everything to proceed as planned?" asked the man before her. He wasn't visible to her: the shadows were too dark, and his voice was mundane and non-descript._

"_Yes. tomorrow. I must praise you for your excellent work in following this operation through. I am most grateful. But is it out of fear?" Remy felt that familiar surge of power rise in her as the person before her stuttered in a whisper,_

"_Of course not! It is out of loyalty that I do these things!"_

"_Very well. If I fail, then, you will be entirely to blame," she explained cruelly. The man was fearful now, but spoke determinedly._

"_Of course, my lord…"_

_And then the scene disappeared-_

"Rem, wake up," Harry's voice broke through her vision, and she opened her eyes to see his emerald ones staring back at her. Her head was pounding.

"I found a way to get in here," he said, forcing a smile. His voice sounded low and lifeless, and he looked like he had been up all night, worrying.

"Harry, you look dreadful," Remy said seriously (**hehehe!**).

"So do you," he said. He had his Firebolt in his hand, and the window was open. That explained his entrance.

"I _have _just had a vision, Harry, how would you feel?" she asked sarcastically.

"They're as bad as ever, hey?"

She told him about the one she just had.

"I'm presuming I was Voldemort again. But the things I say in the vision don't make any sense at all!" she cried in frustration.

Together they had figured out, as it was quite obvious, that Remy's visions were from Voldemort's eyes.

"None of them make sense. Are they always this painful?" he asked, as she nursed her head.

Actually, there's something I needed to talk to you about…" she said awkwardly, fiddling with her locket.

"Tell me," he said kindly.

She sighed.

"When we were… not talking, I couldn't hear you in my head. And my visions went away completely. I didn't have one headache. Don't you find that weird?" she asked.

He said nothing for a moment.

"That- that is weird…" he whispered, staring at her. "It's almost like-"

"The closer I get to you the worse they get," Remy finished for him.

"And the closer we are the stronger the reading-mind… thing is," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"It's like without you in my head, they disappear. It's like you cause them," she said carefully. He looked horrified.

"I cause them? Oh, no… so- so it's me that's causing you all this pain? Me that's making you see weird things?" he asked furiously. His face was screwed up in apparent pain and disgust: disgust at himself.

"I don't know that yet! We shouldn't jump to conclusions," said Remy firmly. Harry didn't look convinced.

"I don't believe it- Remy, I'm so sorry, this is my fault, I'm -our connection is- making you see all that- all that stuff- maybe I shouldn't-" he stuttered, but Remy interrupted him.

"We don't know that for sure! And even if it is true, I'm not staying away from you just to rid myself of some silly visions. They don't even mean anything. I can handle it, honestly," she said re-assuringly, but he still looked troubled.

"Now, what's the matter with you, Harry James?" she asked him, changing the subject.

"It doesn't matter."

"No, really, what's wrong?"

"He was in the same room as me," murmured Harry.

"Huh?" said Remy startled.

"He was in the same room as me. He was so close… I could have killed him." he murmured. She frowned.

"So you'd really make your best friend an orphan?" she asked, sitting upright to face him. Harry looked up at her with his eyebrows raised

"No, I didn't mean it like that, Remy, but he-"

"I know what he did. I'll see you at breakfast." She said curtly, and walked over to her trunk to get some clothes.

"Remy, I-"

"It's fine, Harry, I understand," she said airily, walking down to the bathrooms to get changed, leaving Harry to his own confused disarray of thoughts.

On her way to the grand staircase, Remy ran into her uncle.

"Hey, uncle Remus."

"What's wrong?"

"How do you always know when there's something wrong?" she asked irritably.

"Your eyes are darker. What's the matter?" he asked, putting his arm around her and leading her towards the staircase.

"Nothing, just had a…discussion… with Harry, it was nothing, really. We've forgotten about it. What are you doing up here?"

"I thought I'd see how you are after last night."

"I'm fine, no-one was hurt. He's not coming back, he probably knows everyone's even more wary of him now." She said off-handedly. He looked impressed at her apparent indifference to her father's break-in.

"Well, also, I thought I'd give you the new gringotts key I had made for you, because I decided to forgive you for losing yours," he said, smiling, and handing her a large silver key.

"Huh?" she said, staring from it to him in confusion. "You already gave me one for Christmas. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I found my wallet, and the key's in there, so you didn't need to send me one after all," she said. He frowned.

"I didn't send you a key," he said puzzledly.

"Er, yeah, you did, I have it in my dormitory. It fell out of some of my wrapping paper on the floor on Christmas day. I just saw it and presumed you'd gotten me a new one," she shrugged.

"Well I didn't. Who gave you the key?"

"I don't know. As I said, it fell out onto the floor."

"What does it look like?" he asked suspiciously.

"It's just gold, why? It's not important, it probably just goes with one of my gifts, and I forgot about it," she said airily.

"Remy, can you show it to me?"

"No, it's really not important, just a silly old key –"

But Remy stopped dead halfway down the grand staircase, for she had caught sight of the enormous double door in the entrance hall. It had been taught to recognize an enormous wanted poster bearing her father's familiar scowling face, looking down at everybody who passed menacingly.

"Remy?" said Remus, looking down at her in concern. "Are you ok?"

"I'm not hungry," she said quickly, her voice shaking with anger, and raced back up the stairs, causing many students to stare after her curiously.

Remy had barely reached the common room when Harry and Ron came out, asking her down to breakfast with them. _Back _down to breakfast with them. Remy sighed in annoyance.

"Ok," she said.

"Rem, what's wrong?" asked Ron. Remy's face was flustered and she looked incredibly annoyed.

_I'm sorry,_ thought Harry desperately.

_It's fine, it's not you, _Remy thought back.

"When you see the doors in the great hall, you'll know," she grumbled. At breakfast, Ron was recounting his tale to anybody who would listen, while Remy sat there, being surly, glaring at anyone who stared at her, obviously having seen the enormous poster of Black or heard about his most recent break-in.

"I was having this dream, just sleeping as usual, when I heard the curtains rip. I opened my eyes, and standing over me was Black himself, holding this massive knife! The curtains were slashed in half, and I just screamed for my life, which made him run for it. He looked all filthy, and his hair was long and dirty. He looked like a corpse, and I reckon he would have killed me if I hadn't woken up," Ron told a couple of second year girls heroically, before they whispered to each other in admiration and walked away from the breakfast table, shooting horrified glances at Remy, who made a face at them.

"Honestly, Ronald, _will _you shut up?" said Remy sullenly. "I've heard your riveting tale about twenty times this-morning," she grumbled. Ron shrugged and started on his cereal. Remy and Harry had had to endure hearing Ron's recount of last night's events so often that they had taken to mouthing his conventional story, which never changed, behind his back. They had somehow learnt all the words.

Hermione looked close to tears every time they saw her: she was obviously feeling guilty after Ron's ordeal. Remy, who was trying to divide her time between Harry and Ron and Hermione (who was now sitting with Aria), had mentioned this to Ron, but he simply scoffed and said "good for her."

"Hogsmeade on Saturday, you guys. Are you coming?" he added quietly to Harry. Harry looked at Remy slyly and nodded.

Just then, Finchy, Remy's jet black owl, flew into the great hall (20 minutes later than all of the other delivery owls) covered in sticks and leaves. Remy stared after him incredulously as he landed in Ron's cereal with a loud squawk, covering Ron with milk and cornflakes.

"Why is he so stupid?" wondered Harry vaguely.

"I have no idea. He was only a galleon, though."

Ron snorted with laughter. They found that it was a note from Hagrid, inviting them down for tea at his hut.

"I hope it's nothing bad about Buckbeak," said Harry.

"I hope he doesn't try to feed us any of his rock cakes. I had a toothache for a week the last time I ate one," said Remy reminiscently.

"Remy! Hagrid's cooking isn't that bad…" said Ron half-heartedly. He, too, looked fearful at the prospect of Hagrid's cooking. Hagrid's rock cakes were barely distinguishable from actual rocks, in both taste and texture.

"Yes it is, Ron," said Harry flatly.

"Yeah, OK, it is. But let's go down and see him, shall we?"

Ron was dying to tell Hagrid about Black- but when they arrived and he launched into an animated recount about his experience, Hagrid cut him off mid sentence, waving Ron's attempted murder aside like a weather report.

"Yeah, I heard all about it," said Hagrid. Ron looked crestfallen.

"You heard Ron from all the way down here?"

Nobody answered Remy.

"Look you three, I wanted to talk to you about Hermione-"

He told them that Hermione was incredibly upset about Scabbers, and had cried because Harry and Ron weren't talking to her. This made Ron feel especially guilty. But, nonetheless, he made no attempt to communicate with her for the rest of the week.

*

On Saturday, Remy and Harry bid goodbye to Ron, who left for Hogsmeade with Dean Thomas and agreed to meet them at Honeydukes later, and hung back for about ten minutes.

"Ready to go, Potter?" Remy asked him deviously as they prepared to descend down the hump-backed witch passageway.

"Ready when you are, Black."

They grinned at each-other and set off. The passage seemed to take forever- but after many choruses of their favourite songs, they arrived at the trapdoor. Remy used her powers to glide through (again, scaring Harry out of his wits), and they walked into Honeydukes, completely invisible, where Ron was sitting on one of the benches. They tapped him on the shoulder, making him gasp- but he covered it up by pretending to have been coughing. They followed him outside.

"This is really weird, you guys," whispered Ron out of the corner of his mouth.

"So are you," whispered Remy. Ron tried to elbow her, but as Remy wasn't actually visible, this proved rather difficult, and he ended up elbowing the space of air on his wrong side, as she moved out of the way. Many people stared at him curiously.

Ron and Remy showed Harry all the Hogsmeade popular destinations: the post office, Zonko's, Honeydukes, and more. They had a lot of fun, and left each shop with pockets heavy with merchandise. Once they had purchased all that their money could purchase, they perched on the hill that overlooked the shrieking shack, which was barely visible through the thick cloud of fog that hung about the cold, wintry air.

"Weasley!" sneered a spiteful voice from behind them. Malfoy was approaching them with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Malfoy," muttered Ron.

"Shopping for your new dream home?" he said, gesturing towards the shrieking shack and smirking. Crabbe and Goyle roared with laughter, and Ron's ears went red.

Remy made to lunge at Malfoy, but Harry stopped her.

_Let's get him,_ Harry thought.

"Leave this to us," they whispered in Ron's ear.

"Don't your family sleep in… er… one room?" asked Malfoy, sending Crabbe and Goyle into more grunts of ape like laughter. Remy took out her slingshot, rolled up a ball of mud, and launched it at Malfoy's head. The mud splattered all over his face, and he retreated in shock, screaming.

"What- what was that? Where did it come from?" demanded Malfoy, looking around in fright from Crabbe and Goyle, to Ron, then to the forest behind them. Ron was laughing.

"Weasley!" he snarled, and started forwards towards Ron- but Harry had scooped up some sludge, and at that moment, propelled it with full force at Malfoy's back, entirely soaking his cloak with dripping, green mud. Malfoy gave a gasp of horror and spun around, just as Harry and Remy began furiously launching muck at them from all directions.

Malfoy ran over past Harry and Remy, trying to escape, but Remy grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked hard, making him howl in pain.

They raced around, desperately shielding themselves from handfuls of sludge, searching blindly for their attacker, in spite of said attacker being invisible.

"It came from over that way!" screamed Malfoy, pointing to a place over next to Ron (who was positively howling with laughter), which was approximately 10 metres away from Harry and Remy. Goyle ran blindly to the spot- but Harry stuck his foot out, attempting to trip Goyle- but all tripping Goyle achieved was the invisibility cloak being pulled out from underneath them, momentarily displaying Harry's head and Remy's shoulder. His eyes widened in delight as he clapped eyes on them, and without hesitation, ran up towards the castle, undoubtedly to tell professor Snape, or some other frightening and undesirable individual, that he had seen Harry in Hogsmeade.

"I think we've made it," gasped Remy, as they closed the statue of the hump-backed witch, leaving the invisibility cloak inside the entrance, and attempted to brush mud off themselves. Remy had come too, because Malfoy had seen the two of them, and if Harry had come back alone, there would be no way to explain the merchandise in Harry's possession, and they would instantly ask Remy to explain why she had been seen with him. Besides, Remy had a great imagination, and Harry was an excellent liar. Together they would be able to get out of any trouble. Right?

"Back to the common room, then?" suggested Harry.

"I think not," a cold voice drifted from behind them. Remy and Harry looked up in horror to see professor Snape himself, towering over them menacingly like an enormous bat. Snape always caught them at the worst times: they were standing next to a statue, flustered and windswept, hands dirty with sludge.

"Well, well, Black and Potter. What sort have stunt have you decided to pull this time?" he sneered.

They didn't say anything.

"Come with me," he instructed.

They weren't plucky enough to disobey.

They reached Snape's office, and Remy was disgusted at it's interior: jars of dead animals were lined up on his shelves, and foul looking potion ingredients were on full display on tables. Everything was very dimly illuminated by a dull, green eerie light which seeped in through the ceiling, as they were pretty much at black lake level.

"Why do you have dead animals in your office, sir?"

"So…" he drawled in a dangerous voice. "So," he repeated.

"So what?" asked Remy in confusion. Harry snorted with laughter as Snape's face became a deadly mask of pure evil.

"Hold your tongue, Black. Mr Malfoy has just told me that he saw something very strange in Hogsmeade," he said silkily.

"I wouldn't be surprised, sir, there are some pretty strange things in Hogsmeade-"

"Silence, Potter! Can you explain to me how Mr. Malfoy could have possible seen your head and Black's shoulder next to it, floating in mid-air on a hill in Hogsmeade?"

"That is a preposterous allegation!" cried Remy in outrage. "Harry's never even _been _to Hogsmeade! It seems to me that Malfoy is either damaged in the head or has been drinking too much firewhisky," evaluated Remy.

Harry snorted with laughter and quickly stifled it.

"Hold your tongue, Black. Is your head _allowed _in Hogsmeade, Potter? No, I don't think _any _part of you is allowed in Hogsmeade. Turn out your pockets. Both of you. _Now,_" he instructed icily.

_Crap, _thought Remy. _What are we going to do about the map?_

_Just tell him it's a bit of old parchment, _thought Harry quickly. They reluctantly turned out their pockets, revealing bags full of sweets, Zonko's merchandise and the marauders map.

"What's all this, then?" he asked.

_Say something smart, _thought Harry.

"Well, sir," explained Remy, "this here is a piece of parchment, these are sweets from Zonko's, including levitating sherbet balls, fizzing whizbees, helium toffees and every flavour beans, and these are some products from Zonko's Wizarding joke shop, like the nose biting teacup, the super-still mice, trick wands, disappearing ink and-"

"I don't have time for your insolent back-chatting, Black, you know perfectly well what I am talking about!" he snapped. "How did Potter come to be in possession of these objects if, as you suggest, he has never set foot in Hogsmeade?" he asked.

"They're Remy's," said Harry convincingly.

"Everything is hers? I see, and why are you carrying Black's things around?"

_You decided to meet me in the third floor corridor because we needed to finish an essay we forgot to do, and you were holding my things for me because I had to wipe some mud off my hands._

"Well, sir, Remy and I forgot to finish our defence against the dark arts essays, and decided to meet in the third floor corridor. So she came back from Hogsmeade and when I met her, she asked me to hold her stuff for her while she wiped off her hands, because she fell over on the way and got her hands all muddy," explained Harry.

"And why were your hands covered in filth, also?"

"Well, believe it or not sir, people do hold hands sometimes. I wouldn't expect you to know that, of course, as you seem rather socially inept-" began Remy,

"Holding hands? How very touching. You two are both extraordinarily like your fathers. They were both arrogant liars."

"Liars? Professor, are you insinuating that you find it impossible that someone would want to hold hands with Harry? That is just _so _rude-"

"Black, if you don't hold your tongue I will happily cut it out for you," he said dangerously. "Your heads are both too inflated for their own goods'. You are insolent, egotistical and pig-headed to the extent that you consider rules of unimportance to your greatness. Well you are wrong. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you are far from worthier than every other student here. Your fathers were exactly the same," he said with a cruel smile, obviously savouring every second that he was tormenting and provoking them. "It's as though they've been born again, much to everybody's misfortune. How I remember Potter especially, strutting about, pathetically showing off to inflate his ego, and Black, desperately seeking attention to gain him more popularity-"

"SHUT UP!" yelled Harry and Remy at the same time.

"_What did you say to me?" _Snape asked in a deadly voice.

"Shut up about my father! How _dare _you compare me to that- to that bastard!" Remy shouted, her eyes flaring with rage, standing at full height. "I'll never be like him, no matter what you say! He's a _murderer_," Remy spat, as though the word were poisonous.

"Well you are certainly a lot like he was, so perhaps you are on your way there," sneered Snape.

"You are an absolute fu-"

"And don't you dare speak about my dad like that- you're twice as pathetic as he ever was- he saved your life, so I wouldn't be talking right now if I were you!" stormed Harry angrily. "My dad didn't strut, and nor do I."

"Do you know the circumstances under which your father saved my life, Potter? He was a coward who wasn't saving me as much as his own skin to get him and his stupid friends out of trouble for creating the situation in the first place," he sneered, rounding on Harry. Neither Harry nor Remy spoke.

"What's this," he muttered, snatching the marauders' map out of Remy's hands.

"Well, sir, that sort of goes without saying-"

"Spare piece of parchment," mumbled Harry, elbowing Remy to shut her up.

_Sorry, but you might say something you'll regret, _thought Harry.

"Oh? let's see about that. _Reveal your secrets,_" Snape said silkily, aiming his wand at the map. Almost instantly, black letters began to spell themselves out across the page in curly handwriting. Remy leaned in to see what it said.

_Mr. Moony offers his compliments to professor Snape, and suggests that he keeps his abnormally large nose out of other people's business._

Harry looked uncomfortable, and tactfully said nothing, cleverly disguising his amusement; Remy just cracked up laughing.

Snape's face was contorted with rage now, as he stared at the words in hatred.

"What- what is this-"

But, to their amazement, more words began to form themselves on the parchment:

_Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git._

_Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor._

Harry had closed his eyes in fearful anticipation. By the time he had opened them, another message had appeared. Remy hadn't stopped laughing.

_Mr. Wormtail bids good day to Professor Snape, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball._

"Oh – my – god – _hah! – _Ugly git – so – true," Remy gasped through her laughter, clutching her sides. Harry wasn't able to hold it in any longer, and he started laughing too.

Without another word, gritting his teeth together, Snape strode over to the fire and chucked a handful of powder into it, turning the flames white, and yelled-

"Lupin! A word!"

Moments later, Remus emerged from the fireplace, dusting off his robes. Not looking at Harry and Remy, who had stuffed their fists in their mouths, he said pleasantly,

"You called, Severus?"

"Yes, I did. It's about _these _two," snapped Snape coldly, as if everything was his fault.

"Hey, Uncle Remus," said Remy brightly.

"Don't you 'Hey Uncle Remus' me," he muttered. "What did she do this time?"

"_They," _corrected Snape, "have just been asked to empty their pockets. Black was carrying this, but it belongs to both of them." Snape handed Lupin the map, and he examined it.

"Clearly this is an artefact full of dark magic-" began Snape,

"Dark Magic?" repeated Remus. "I should think not. This seems to be a Zonko's product, merely a piece of parchment designed to insult anyone who reads it."

"Oh? You don't think they got it _directly from the manufacturers?_" asked Snape. Remy looked at Harry. What was he talking about?

"Harry, Remmia, do you know 'Mr. Wormtail' or any of these men?" asked Remus.

They shook their heads.

"Well then, that's all cleared up, but I shall examine it further in my office. You two, a word, if you don't mind? It's just about that vampire essay I set," he said, looking at them significantly.

"I finished it, I _swear, _Crookshanks ate it!" Remy said defensively, holding her hands up in her defence. Remus sighed.

"Remy, just be quiet for a moment, will you? Good day, professor Snape," he added, and led them out the door. When they reached the entrance hall, Remus turned on them.

"We-"

"I don't want to hear it. I have no idea how you came into possession of this map. I happen to know it was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago- yes, I know what it is," he said, as they looked astonished.

"And I am _astounded _that you didn't hand it in," he said sternly. "Harry, do you have any idea how dangerous this could be, considering the circumstances? I can't give it back to you."

_Damn, _Remy thought.

"And Remy, I know rules are as important to you as a muggle financial crisis, but I expected better of you, considering that your best friend is being hunted down by a murderer. Did you even stop to think that this map could prove very handy in the possession of Sirius Black?" he said angrily. Remy looked down at her feet.

"Harry, I can't make you take Sirius Black seriously- Remmia, don't you _dare_ laugh -" he warned, as Remy sniggered at the use of words, "But I thought the dementor's effect on you would have made you more wary of the situation. Your parents gave their lives to save you, and gambling their sacrifice for a bad of magic tricks is a pretty poor way to repay them," he said, before turning and leaving Harry feeling miserable.

"It's alright mate. He gets like that sometimes," she said re-assuringly, patting him on the back.

Suddenly, Ron came running out of nowhere towards them.

"Did you- did you get in trouble?" he asked breathlessly.

"Nope," said Harry.

"Uncle Remus saved us from Snape's evil clutches of doom," explained Remy simply.

"Thank Merlin," he said. "how did you get away with the map?"

They explained everything to him.

"Wow, I can't believe the map said that- oh, look who it is," he muttered, for Hermione had just stalked through the front doors, carrying what appeared to be a piece of parchment.

"What do you-?" but Ron stopped, for Hermione was crying,

"Buckbeak lost the trial! He's going to be executed," she said tearily.

"What? No!" said Ron. He wrapped his arms around her as she began to sob.

"Ron- Ron I'm _so _sorry about Scabbers!" she cried into his T-shirt.

"It's alright- he was old," he said, patting her on the head.

"There has to be something we can do," said Remy desperately. Hagrid would be so upset.

Hermione shook her head.

"One word. Lucius Malfoy. We didn't have a chance to begin with," she sobbed.

"We can still try!" encouraged Harry. "We can keep looking up trials to prove those bastards wrong."

Ron held Hermione out so he could see her.

"I'll do everything I can. You don't have to do any hippogriff research on your own, I'll help you," he said determinedly.

"Oh, Ronald!" she wailed, and flung her arms around his neck again. Harry and Remy smiled at each other briefly.

_Looks like we're all friends again, huh? _Thought Harry.

_Seems to be the case, _Remy thought back.

__________________________________________________________

**Yay! Happy ending! I have just discovered how infuriating cliffies are, so I'll spare you the trauma of any more cliff hangers. **

**Hope you liked it, review me!**

**ciao! Peace out! School's out! BOOYAHH!!!!**


	16. the prediction

**Chapter 18!**

**Sorry about the one day delay, I had a sleepover. I hope my hangover doesn't affect the quality of this chapter. (kidding)**

**please review! you know you want to!**

**for Phantom and Livvy**

**____________________________________________________________**

Exams were fast approaching, and Harry, Remy, Ron and Hermione, along with everyone else in the school, were often cooped up inside the castle, studying for the upcoming exams. The weather was beautiful outside. The warm summer light illuminated the grounds, birds sang merrily and the black lake sparkled in the glistening sun. Even the giant squid heaved himself out of the water to bathe in the magnificence of the scene.

"This is so BORING!" exclaimed Ron one afternoon in the common room, slamming down his book and making everyone jump. They had decided to start on some studying that day. Or rather Hermione had.

"We know, Ron," said Harry boredly, not looking up from his history of magic textbook, though Remy was sure he wasn't actually reading the book as much as staring right through it. "I suggested going outside," he sighed, glaring at Hermione. Neither Remy nor Harry saw much point in studying. They both had astounding memories, and were right behind Hermione in every subject. They were advantaged, however: sharing thoughts allowed much shared revision, and they often bounced knowledge off one another. Remy never did much study at all. She would have much preferred spending her time having fun outside or pulling the odd prank on someone she didn't like. She insisted that she would never be seen dead doing study when it wasn't absolutely crucial.

"Boy, I do wish we could do something else," Harry sighed, staring out the window.

"Let's go take a break? Play a game of chess? Go for a walk? Remy? Harry?"

"Ok," said Harry. "We've got all week."

"Nah, guys, I think I'm just going to stay here and study," said Remy. The whole common room went silent. Everyone was staring, dumbfounded, in her direction, books forgotten, mouths open.

"What?" she asked defensively, frowning around the room.

"Remy Black? Wilfully studying? What has the world come to!?" said one boy dramatically.

"Well I'm sorry that I don't want to fail," she said huffily. "And besides, it's really hot out there! I'll get heatstroke, and no matter how scarce my clothing is it'll still be bloody boiling," she said, fanning herself off with a piece of parchment. She still wasn't excused from her apparently deplorable words.

She sighed in exasperation and turned back to her book. That's what she got for creating herself such a seditious reputation.

"Remy, are you allergic to the sun? Your complexion is ghastly ashen, and it really isn't that hot," said Hermione.

"Don't be stupid," muttered Remy. "People aren't allergic to the sun."

Remy didn't want to go outside. She was in a truly terrible mood. Her visions depicted very graphic killings lately, ones in which Voldemort was obviously feeling pure rage. It felt as if the rage was seeping into Remy herself, making her irritable and bad tempered. Others had nothing to do with Voldemort, and didn't make her head hurt. They were like disjointed snippets of random everyday scenes, for instance a flash of the whomping willow, thrashing violently, then a full moon, then a pumpkin patch in a backyard, then two people walking through a forest. Whoever decided what strange things Remy was to see in her sleep every night was either very elusive or just a complete nutcase. What the hell were they supposed to mean?

"I just don't feel up to it, OK? I have a headache," she mumbled.

------------

Remy wasn't the only person acting abnormally. When Ron wasn't studying, he could be found in the library, poring over hippogriff trials and taking notes, desperate to save Buckbeak. This completely redeemed him in Hermione's eyes. She was absolutely delighted with him for taking such great interest in something so virtuous and right.

Hermione herself seemed to have outworked herself. She had seemed to be perfectly nonchalant at the prospect of having twice the amount of subjects everyone else had. But as time moved on, all she could be seen doing was studying, studying and studying, and doing piles upon piles of homework that would have killed Remy at one look every single night. No-one knew the secret to how she possibly did all those subjects, when her timetable would have required a twelve hour school day. Now, as exams approached, she was positively frenzied with stress, and nobody could talk to her: One, because she was often obscured by a large pile of homework, and two, because she vented her feelings by snapping and yelling at anyone who tried to interfere.

It seemed like Harry was the only one out of the four of them whose behaviour was completely normal.

----------------------------

One day, Hermione actually missed a charms class.

Remy, Harry, Ron and Hermione had been walking to the classroom, when Ron abruptly stopped and asked,

"Where did Hermione go? She was right behind us!"

"Should we go back and get her?" wondered Harry.

"She'll turn up, she probably just went to the bathroom," said Remy airily.

They found Hermione after charms in the Gryffindor common room, fast asleep on her ancient runes homework.

"Hermione?" said Remy softly, tapping her on the arm. She sat bolt upright.

"What is it? What do we have now? Did I miss something? Oh, I have so much work…" she raved frantically. She looked exhausted, and her eyes were wide and anxious, bloodshot like she was on some sort of strange drug.

"Why weren't you in charms?" asked Ron.

"I missed Charms? No! You did cheering charms today, didn't you? Oh no, no, no! I hope they aren't in the exam…" she said, burying her head in her arms.

"Hermione, you're doing way too much," said Harry.

"No I'm not, I just slacked off, I need to work harder…" she mumbled. The others raised their eyebrows at each other.

*

The first exam day came quicker than they expected. Remy and Harry felt prepared, Hermione didn't (which was utter nonsense), and Ron was too immersed in Buckbeak's trial to actually care.

In the charms exam, unfortunately for Hermione, they did do cheering charms. But all of them did quite well in the exam… or so Remy hoped. During the care of magical creatures exam, Hagrid told them that an appeal would be taking place the next day, which would set the final decision of whether Buckbeak would live or die. As much as they, especially Ron, tried to cheer him up, he seemed to have no hope.

The next day, in the defence against the dark arts exam, Remus had set up an outdoor obstacle course, in which they each had to duel a grindylow, wade through a swamp and ignore directions from a hinkypunk, and then step into a wardrobe and defeat their boggart:

Ron did well up until the hinkypunk, whose directions he followed, and ended up on the other side of the swamp, waist high in mud, waving at them for help. Remy laughed so hard that Remus had to threaten her with burning her motorbike to get her to shut up. Harry completed the whole course spectacularly, defeating his boggart in about a minute. Remy was sure he received full marks. Remy conquered the first two challenges effortlessly, but when she came to the wardrobe, she had an inward panic attack. What was her worst fear? Whatever it was, it was going to be absolutely terrifying… because it was her worst fear. Well, that made sense.

As she stepped inside the wardrobe, she began to feel seriously sick. What if she saw Sirius Black killing Harry? That was certainly something she was dreading at the moment. But fear… pure fear… What was hers? The second she closed the door, a pearly white figure emerged out of the darkness.

It was her mother.

But it wasn't: Louisa Black had shiny blonde locks and bright blue eyes. This person was transparent and had a ghastly pallor. She was a ghost. Remy took a sharp intake of breath, and backed up against the closet door, breathing shallowly. Her mother's ghost drifted towards her, no expression on her usually pretty face. Remy's heart was pounding. She began to panic. This was strange… eerie… horrifying. Remy drew her wand. How she would be able to make this funny was beyond her.

"R-Ridi-" she stuttered, but more ghosts were appearing. Harry. Hermione. Ron. Remus. A woman Remy had seen murdered in a vision. A man she had seen murdered. An entire family she had seen murdered. The walking dead all drifted slowly towards her, their disturbingly dead expressions never changing. It was almost more than she could take. Almost. Her heat was hammering, and her knees were weak. She imagined them all crumbling to white dust, and-

"_Ridikulus!" _she cried, and sure enough, they all crumbled to the floor. She stood there for a moment, trembling and panting. She hated ghosts. Hated them. Their white, unearthly dead faces just staring… the eerie way they moved… ghosts were just irrefutable proof that the people they depicted were irreversibly dead. All those people. Dead.

She stumbled out of the wardrobe, and the brightness stunned her. She had to shield her face from the burning sun, and felt herself swaying slightly, until Harry caught her arm and pulled her over to the side.

"Are you alright?"

_Tell you later,_ she thought.

"Are you okay, Rem?" asked Remus quietly, moving over to them, but still watching the exam.

"Yeah, I'm all good," she lied.

"You look terribly pale, did you want to go back up to the castle?"

"No," she said quickly. "I'll be ok. Just a bit dizzy. It's nothing."

"Ok then, if you're sure. Well done, by the way."

Hermione emerged from the wardrobe next, screaming and clutching her hair in despair.

"Hermione, what is it?" asked Remus in alarm.

"Professor McGonagall- she told me I've failed _everything!_" she cried. Remy and Ron had to turn around to hide their laughter. Harry did a better job concealing his.

Everyone left the exam cheerfully, except Remy. The ghosts were all swirling around in her mind, their faces haunting her. Especially her mothers. Remy found it cruel, and not to mention distressing, that the only time she had been, and ever would be able to see her mother was as an artificial imitation of her ghost.

They spotted three men approaching the front gates on their way up: Cornelius Fudge, some guy in a suit, and a tall dark man with an axe. Remy, Harry Ron and Hermione gathered that they were there for Buckbeak's appeal.

"That's rubbish!" Ron had shouted, once the men were out of earshot. "They've got the executioner- it's like they've already decided!"

Remy had to agree. they probably had already decided.

*

In the divination exam, they were all called up to the classroom in turn, and were required to tell Trelawney what they saw in the giant crystal ball that sat on her table. Remy was up first.

"Adara Black," Trelawney called down through the trapdoor to the class below.

"It's _Remy,_" she corrected irritably. The same thing had happened in the History of Magic, Astronomy and Herbology exams. Why did they have to read straight from the role?

"Okay, Miss Black, tell me what you see," said Trelawney, holding her clipboard out in front of her, once Remy had entered the classroom and sat down in front of the crystal ball. Remy decided that she would actually concentrate for once. She looked deep into the orb, and eventually, a dark shape appeared… it turned into a hippogriff. Buckbeak. It was taking off into the air, flapping it's wings slowly and powerfully, a dark shape astride it…  
She was alarmed. this stuff wasn't actually supposed to work, was it?

"A hippogriff," said Remy.

"I see, and does this hippogriff happen to have a head?" Trelawney asked.

"Yes," said Remy snappishly. "It does have a head. It's as alive as you or me. And there's someone on it, it's flying away."

Trelawney frowned.

"If you say so… who is this person astride the hippogriff?"

"Dunno, can't make it out. It's just a dark outline of someone."

Trelawney didn't seem very pleased with this, but then again, she probably wasn't even a Seer. Remy felt she did very well in the rest of the exam, though. She climbed back down the trapdoor, and moved aside to let Lavender through.

_--------------_

_Harry P.O.V_

It was Harry's turn. He climbed the ladder and proceeded through the trap door, thinking about Remy the whole way. Why had she looked so frightened? He had seen Remy absolutely raving-crazy furious, he had seen her ecstatically overjoyed, and he had seen her surly and miserable. But horrified? Frightened? Trembling? What had that boggart been for her?

Harry felt he did atrociously in his exam. Trelawney looked uneasy and disapproving at his every answer. However, something extremely odd happened as he turned to leave, just after he had bid goodbye to Trelawney.

"_It will happen tonight," _said a harsh, deep voice from behind him. Harry spun around to face Trelawney.

"Sorry?" he said.

Trelawney had gone rigid, and her mouth was sagging, her eyes unfocused.

"_The dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained for these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than before…Strange and relevant connections will be discovered, connections that pose a threat to the Dark Lord. His enemy will discover a power that has been unknown to him for all of his existence. The Dark Lord and his servant must keep the Dark Lord protected from this danger, for this new found power is more dangerous to him than the enemy himself… tonight…_

Harry stared at her in horror, and then she awoke suddenly, shaking her head in shock. Harry was staring at her, open mouthed.

"What will happen tonight?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Oh dear, I must have dozed off! Sorry, what did you say?" she said brightly.

"You just- you just said that the Dark Lord will rise again with the help of his master," stuttered Harry, still gaping.

"It sounds like you've dozed off, too! Run along now," she said pleasantly. When Harry reached Gryffindor Tower to tell Remy, Ron and Hermione what had happened, Hermione cut him off. She was holding a piece of parchment.

"Read this," she said grimly. Ron and Remy looked furious.

_Lost appeal. Execution at sunset. Don't come down. I don't want you to have to see it._

_Nothing you can do. Thanks for all your help._

_Hagrid._

_-------------------- _

_Remy P.O.V_

"Are you _serious?_" Harry stormed.

"The adjective, not the person, yes." said Remy grimly.

Remy was livid. How could they kill Buckbeak? After everything she and her friends had done to help, after everything Hagrid had been through- how could this happen? Lucius Malfoy had something coming when Remy next saw him, that was for sure…

Despite Hagrid's warning, they went down to Hagrid's with the invisibility cloak, which they retrieved from the humpbacked witch. But on their way down, they were met by none other than Draco Malfoy. He, Crabbe and Goyle were perched behind a rock, pointing and sniggering at Hagrid's cabin, inside the window of which sat Hagrid, sobbing into an overlarge handkerchief.

"Look at him blubber- he's so pathetic," chortled Malfoy, sending Crabbe and Goyle into obedient sniggers.

Remy flared up.

"_You!" _she screeched, drawing her wand and marching towards Malfoy, who turned around with an expression of alarm on his face. His expression turned to smugness at the sight of them.

"Black! Come to see the show?" he sneered in mock cheerfulness.

"_You pathetic, disgusting, abhorrent, repulsive, malignant little flobberworm!"_she shouted, her pace quickening as she approached him.

"Calm down there, Black, you know he's pathetic. Just admit-"

WHAM!

Remy had just swung back her fist and punched Malfoy right in the face with all of her might.

"_How dare you call Hagrid pathetic, you, spitefully sniggering at him from behind a rock you repugnant cringing bit of filth-" _she snarled, swinging her fist back, but Harry and Ron caught it.

"Remy, stop! It's not worth it-" said Harry desperately. Hermione kicked Harry and Ron in the shins, allowing Remy to punch Malfoy again. Malfoy staggered backwards in shock, staring at Remy in horror, and screamed,

"_Run for it!_" at Crabbe and Goyle, who waddled after him as he sprinted back up to the castle. Hermione and Remy were laughing, and Harry and Ron were stunned.

"That was awesome," both boys marvelled.

_*_

Down at Hagrid's, Hagrid seemed to be distraught beyond tears. He simply sat there, trembling and drinking his tea, while the four of them offered him words of comfort.

"You really shouldn't have come down, you'll be in trouble if you're caught down here at this time of night," he said shakily. Buckbeak was outside, grooming himself peacefully, apparently oblivious to the fact that his time was drawing to a close. Those bright yellow eyes would never see the beauty of the world again after sunset. It made Remy feel sick.

"There has to be something we can do, Hagrid," said Ron. "I looked up all that stuff, researched all those cases- and now they're going to do it anyway!"

"I'm sorry Ron. There ain't nothin' we can do. Only make him comfy for the time he 'as left," Hagrid replied miserably, his voice shaking.

"Can't we set him free?" wondered Remy. Hagrid shook his head.

"They'd know it was me," he said. He sounded so depressed. Just then, Hagrid wandered over to his kitchen (which was about one and a half human-sized steps away from the table), and got out a box.

"Ron, I found 'im lurkin' around in me garden- be careful not to lose 'im again," said Hagrid, handing something grey and furry to Ron.

"Scabbers!" Ron exclaimed, taking Scabbers from Hagrid and beaming up at him. "Thanks, Hagrid!" he examined Scabbers: in Remy's opinion, he looked as shabby as ever.

_Doesn't look to flash, eh? _Thought Remy.

_Worse if you ask me, _thought Harry.

"I think you owe someone an apology," said Hermione huffily. Ron turned to her in outrage. "Yeah, Crookshanks-"

"Ouch!" yelled Harry, rubbing the back of his head. A stone had just flown through the window and hit him on the back of the head. Everyone turned and peered out the window, and a good thing, too. Dumbledore, Fudge and the executioner were descending the hill towards Hagrid's hut, talking in loud business-like voices.

"Quick, go!" hissed Hagrid, and after whispering hurried words of apology to him, they scrambled out the back door with the invisibility cloak over them. In a last minute realization of horror, they saw Buckbeak, tethered to a pole in the pumpkin patch, pecking at the ground. He seemed like he knew that something terrible was soon to happen. Hermione gripped Remy's arm tightly, and Remy herself had to hold her breath to resist the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes. In a trance that seemed surreal, they trudged up the familiar hill, knowing they were leaving the poor creature behind forever.

They reached the top of the hill, and Ron stopped.

"Ron, what are you doing, come on! I don't want to see it, it's too horrible-" urged Hermione, but Ron was occupied with trying to keep Scabbers in his pocket. He was going completely out of control.

"Scabbers, keep still!"

The sun was slowly setting, and darkness was descending upon them quickly. As the executioner stepped out into the pumpkin patch, they stopped, and Remy buried her head in Harry's chest, not wanting to look. Hermione did the same to Ron. Remy listened to Harry's steady heartbeat, trying to divert her ears from the sounds that would surely follow the brutal murder of the gentle hippogriff. She held her breath, and her heart sped up in time with Harry's-

_Swish_

Then came the thud of the axe hitting the ground, the sound of birds flying away and squawking in alarm- it was done. Remy didn't want to look up. She wanted to stay buried in Harry's warm sweater, and not accept the sadness of it all.

"They did it," whispered Hermione in revulsion. "I can't believe it."

_______________________________________________

**Buckbeak!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**

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	17. an unexpected meeting

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**I like mushrooms.**

-**_An unexpected meeting_**

The four of them were paralysed. They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. Hermione was sobbing. Remy had pulled her head out of Harry's chest, and she, Harry and Ron were just staring at Hagrid's hut, leaving their imaginations to picture what had just occurred behind it.

"_Ouch- _Scabbers!" Ron shouted abruptly, and with a squeak, the rat leapt from his fingers and scuttled away out of sight. Ron was clutching his finger in pain.

"OW- Scabbers! Come back!" shouted Ron in despair, and without further ado, he raced after Scabbers.

"Ron- no- wait!" shrieked Hermione, and they hurried after him. They followed him over the hill, and he ran faster, finally diving under a tree and trapping Scabbers with his hand.

"Scabbers! Don't do that!" said Ron exasperatedly, yet relieved, securing Scabbers in both hands. What Ron hadn't realised was just _which_ tree he had dived to the base of.

"You guys… do know which tree this is, right?" asked Remy tentatively, looking up. The others followed her eyes in horror. It was the whomping willow. Ron looked up at them in sheer panic-

"GUYS, LOOK OUT!" he screamed, pointing over their shoulders.

"What- AH!" Remy had barely looked around when she was swept off her feet by an enormous black dog, whose paws impacted solidly with her stomach, sending her backwards into Harry, and they both went flying off in the other direction. Hermione squealed, as the dog jumped backwards, facing them, growling and baring its teeth, ready to charge-

But Ron leapt forwards and shoved Harry and Remy aside, causing the dog to miss its target and bowl Ron over instead...

"RON!" the other three shouted, but it was too late- with a vicious growl, the dog sunk it's teeth into Ron's leg and began dragging him towards the whomping willow. They ran after him, but the dog was too fast- and before they knew it, Ron and the dog had disappeared into a dark hole in the trunk of the tree, Ron screaming and moaning in pain the entire way. The others were frantic.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Remy urged, looking around at Harry and Hermione.

"I don't know, I don't know- oh, Ron!" Hermione wailed, biting her nails.

"We have to go in there after him- AAAAHH!"

The whomping willow had just swung back one of its branches and violently collected Harry up into the air, where he now dangled off one of the furiously writhing and viciously flailing branches. The tree had gone berserk, and was now defending itself, intending to wipe anything in its path brutally out of the way.

"HELP ME!" Harry screamed, as the branch he was on swept past and missed Remy by a millimetre.

"What do you expect us to do?" called Hermione, as she and Remy jumped out of the way of another thick branch.

"Harry- what the hell are you- AH!" shrieked Remy, for Harry had just collected her off the ground as he swept past, still clinging to the branch. "Harry, you twat! Now- _AH! _- We're- Holy mother of-! _Both_ – OUCH! – stuck up here! Look out, Hermione!" she screeched, as a thick tree branch came sweeping around and nipped Hermione on the shoulder. The constant whirling movement was making Remy feel sick. The branch was trying its very hardest to shake them off- a feat which made Remy's head throb with pain.

"Ouch!" Hermione yelped, grasping her shoulder. "Remy! Try to climb down the trunk! You're small, you'll be able to dodge the branches! Then- AAH!- we can try to get down the hole!" she called desperately, frantically dodging branches. "No, wait a minute- what's Crookshanks doing?" wondered Hermione incredulously. Remy craned her neck to see- being hit in the face by a flying stick as she did so. Crookshanks had darted under the thrashing branches and was holding a long stick in his tail. Looking around at Hermione as if to beckon her towards him, Crookshanks prodded a knot on the tree with the stick he held- and the branches suddenly stopped moving, as if they hadn't ever started. Remy and Harry hung there in mid-air, gasping for breath and staring at each other.

"Sweet creator of hallucinogenic mushrooms! We're free!" cried Remy triumphantly. Harry looked at her strangely.

"Come on, you two," Hermione urged, "We have to follow him!"

With great difficulty, Harry and Remy got down from the tree, and followed Crookshanks into the hole. Once they were inside, the unmistakable sounds of whirling branches ensued from above.

They had found themselves in a very low, dark tunnel.

_Harry, this is kind of creepy, _Remy pointed out.

_You can hold my hand if you're scared, _he thought back.

_Me? Scared? Who are you kidding?_ She thought, taking his hand. Hermione took his other, and together they made their way quickly along the low passage. The passage was extremely long, no matter how many re-assuring whispers were uttered into the damp air around them.

"We're almost there" and "it'll be ok," and "not far now," didn't mean that Ron was alright. Then, when they had been walking for about five minutes, Remy stopped dead.

"Remy, what is it?"

Remy had shut her eyes tightly, and was clutching her head with her free hand.

_She could see the shadow of a man, running away… he was in a meadow of long, green lush grass. It was dark, and the moon shone eerily through the misty clouds. He ran and puffed, ran, puffed some more… he stopped, clutching his side in an attempt to regain his former vigour - and then the silhouette collapsed. The cloak he had been wearing fell to the ground limply, dormant of it's occupant. He had simply disappeared into thin air, leaving nothing but clothing behind…she sensed excitement…._

"This- is not- the time!" she managed through gritted teeth, clutching her head.

"Remy, what's going on-"

"No time to explain, Hermione," gasped Harry, taking their hands once again and breaking into a run.

_I saw that. Remy, I saw your vision. I was holding your hand, and I saw it, _Harry thought rapidly.

_What? How is that possible?_

_I don't know. What do you think it meant?_

_Do I ever know? Come on. Ron._

They came to a halt at a doorway. When Harry pushed the door open tentatively, it was evident that the house beyond received about as much care as Harry's hair did: Every piece of furniture in the room had been mangled to pieces, ripped to shreds, or displayed large scratches that didn't look as though they had been inflicted by anything human… The windows were boarded shut, and the curtains on them had been ripped violently.

"Guys, I think we're in the shreiking shack," said Hermione numbly, staring around the small house. Then something caught Remy's eye: dog pawprints, leading up the rickety staircase, and into the room above. Beside the pawprints were large, Ron-sized scrape marks.

"Look!" Remy hissed. Just then, a wounded moan sounded thorugh the celiling. Ron. The ceiling emitted more pained noises, and that was all Harry, Remy and Hermione needed to make them sprint up the stairs at top speed.

They burst into the room in a daze, and spotting Ron on the floor next to a large, four-post bed, they were kneeling at his side as fast as you could say 'cancel Christmas'. He looked pale and was covered in sweat and dirt. His face was contorted with pain and horror.

"Ron!" they cried. But Ron was pointing at something over Remy's shoulder, eyes alive with terror, mouth gaping open and closed like a confused fish.

"_Not a dog… It's him… he's an animagus…" _Ron choked out. They turned their heads, just as the door closed behind them with a barely audible _click. _Standing there, tall, dirty and skeletal, was a 6 foot tall man.

If Remy had not recognized his unmistakable eyes that were precisely her own, his dark hair and elegantly structured face that were so similar to hers, she would not have guessed for one minute that it was him: His white skin stretched over his prominent bones like old wax, his hair was long, black, matted and filthy, and the clothes he was wearing were nothing short of dirty, ripped old rags. He was as pale as a ghost, and his shining dark, grey eyes looked as if they had sunk back into his gaunt face. He was as good as a corpse. He was her father. He was Sirius Black.

Remy froze up as his chilling gaze fell on her. Both sets of grey eyes locked together, forming a strange and significant silence between them. Every part of her body was rigid with fear and shock, as she stared at the man she had despised her whole life. The man in her photo. He was right in front of her. Then she realised Black had Ron's wand.

"_Expelliarmus!" _he croaked, stepping closer. Remy, Harry and Hermione's wands flew out of their hands and into Black's. He looked as though he was trying to concentrate on Harry, but couldn't help looking at Remy. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he glanced at her once again, and she stared back.

"_Remy,_" he mouthed, as if it were a name he was digging up from the deepest part of his memory, one that had not left his lips for years. He was looking from her eyes, to the locket that hung form her neck.

"What do you want?" asked Harry bravely, standing up and breaking the strange silence of undesired and discomfited re-union.

"Thankyou…for not running to a teacher. It will make things much easier," he said softly to them, malice in his eyes. His voice was hoarse, like he had long since used it. "Your father would have done the same for me," he added to Harry.

_You killed my father… you betrayed him... I'll kill you- _Remy heard Harry think, but before he could react, Remy stepped out in front of him, facing Black, and spoke fiercely.

"Get away. Don't you dare touch Harry, do you hear me? If you want to kill him you'll have to get through me," she snarled, spreading her arms out in front of Harry protectively. Black was staring straight at her.

"Move, Adara," he said impatiently. "Get out of the way."

"Oh, now you've done it- _That is not my name! _And I _said,_ if you want to kill Harry you'll have to kill all four of us," she growled.

"Only one will die tonight-"

"Why's that?" said Harry, shakily yet viciously. "Gone soft in Azkaban?"

"Harry!" squeaked Hermione, who was as white as a sheet.

Ron and Remy exchanged significant glances as Harry lunged forward and tackled Black to the floor. Hermione watched in horror and Remy panicked, as Harry and Black both struggled to get their hands on each other. Not to duel. To kill.

Remy couldn't see exactly what was going on in the brawl- but she lost control when she saw Black's free hand close around Harry's throat. She ran forward and kicked Black as hard as humanly possible in shoulder, making him pull away and gasp with pain.(Ha. Payback.) Ron threw himself on Black's wand arm, and Hermione grabbed Harry under the arms and tried to pull him away-

Black still struggled to get his hands on Harry-

"HELP! WE'RE UP HERE- IT'S SIRIUS BLACK!" Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs, as soft footsteps had just sounded from below. Now, Remy's father was lying crumpled in pain at Harry's feet, clutching his shoulder, Harry's wand pointing directly at his heart. The others retreated, having reclaimed their wands, and Remy stared at Harry, outraged. It all came crashing down on her. When she had asked him: Would you really make your best friend an orphan?

The answer she should have received was yes.

So, he was going to mercilessly kill his best friend's father, just like that? No deliberation, no second thoughts, no remorse? Was he about to destroy any remaining link she had to having a real family, whether they be good or evil?

"Are you going to kill me Harry?" choked Black, as though interpreting her thoughts, laughing up at Harry.

"You killed my mum and dad," said Harry in an unnaturally calm voice.

"I as good as killed them, I don't deny it- but if you knew the whole story-"

"Knew the whole story?" Harry blurted out. "You betrayed my parents to Voldemort!"

There was a ringing silence, in which Harry moved his wand even closer to Black's chest, glaring at him with eyes of hatred, and a whimper escaped Remy's lips.

When the next words left her mouth, she had no clue why or how they did.

"Harry…Harry _please…_Don't- don't do it," she stammered, her eyes wild, looking from Harry to her father. Harry turned to face her, appalled, and Black looked at her, amazed-

But just then, Remus burst in the door.

"_Expelliarmus!" _he cried almost immediately, collecting the four wands. He stared at Black, whose eyes were still fixed on Remy.

No-one was prepared for what came next.

"Where is he, Sirius?" asked Remus in an odd voice. Black sat up slightly and pointed, very slowly, to Ron, who was lying against the bed. Everyone looked at him, mystified.

"Me?" blurted Ron, bewildered. "He's mental!"

"Agreed," Remy muttered.

Lupin turned back to Black.

"So _he _was the- and you switched- and you didn't _tell _me-" Remus stammered, before his eyes lit up with sudden understanding. Black nodded. Remus extended his hand to Black, who took it.

"Uncle Remus," said Remy abruptly, "Do you mind telling me what the f-" but Remy's mouth, along with Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's, had fallen open in utter astonishment. Remus helped Black up and embraced him like a brother.

"Let's kill him…let's kill him!" Black whispered excitedly. Remus nodded. Remy rubbed her head in confusion. Hermione exploded.

"I TRUSTED YOU!" she shrieked.

"Hermione, calm-"

"And all this time, you've been helping him!"

"We can explain-"

"I covered up for you!" she shouted angrily, before turning to the room at large. "He's a werewolf!"

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	18. continiued!

**Cliffhanger de-activated! here is the continiued conversation. **

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There was an eerie silence, all eyes fixed on Lupin.

"Well duh," said Remy, making everyone jump. "Who didn't know that?"

"Um, us!" cried Harry and Ron in indignation.

"Hermione, I haven't been helping Black, and I _certainly _don't want Harry dead. How long have you known?" asked Lupin quietly. Remy could see all the males in the room positively gaping at her and Hermione. Of course, besides Remus, who was aware that Remy knew what he was. Hermione, though?

"Since I was six," muttered Remy.

"Since professor Snape set the werewolf essay," said Hermione.

"You guys knew and you didn't tell us?!" accused Ron and Harry.

"He made me swear on my life!" said Remy, scandalised, pointing at Remus.

"You made her swear on her life?" said Black, scandalised, pointing at Remy.

"This is completely irrelevant!" shouted Remy

"Yeah Remus, hurry up! Let's kill him!" urged Black.

"Be quiet, both of you!!" said Remus in exasperation. Remy glared murderously at Black for no particular reason- perhaps the slight felony of ruining her life- and sat down obstinately on the four-post bed.

"Well aren't we clever for figuring that out? That I'm a werewolf?" said Remus, turning to Hermione.

"No, I'm not. If I'd been a bit cleverer I would have told everyone what you are!" Hermione said quietly. "I'm surprised Remy didn't" she said, frowning at Remy.

"I _told _you, he made me-"

"They already know," said Remus, waving it aside. "The staff, at least."

Ron's mouth fell open.

"Dumbledore hired a werewolf? Is he _mad_?"

"Why shouldn't he? He's perfectly safe," said Remy rather defensively. The others looked at her oddly.

"Well, Dumbledore had to convince the staff of that, and that I could be trusted, beforehand-" Remus went on,

"AND HE WAS WRONG! YOU'VE BEEN HELPING _HIM _ALL THIS TIME!" roared Harry, pointing furiously at Black, who had crossed over to the bed next to Remy and put his head in one, shaking hand, Crookshanks now curled up on his lap. Remy realised this suddenly and jumped away from him in surprise to the other end of the bed, as though he was contaminated.

"But Harry- how could he have been? If Uncle Remushad been helping – _him_," Remy said, gesturing towards '_him_' in disgust, "Don't you reckon I'd know by now? Oh no, unless it's another 'big secret that Remy can't know in fear of her ever understanding anything-"

_­_"Remy, shut _up_! Be quiet so that we can explain everything," snapped Remus. Remy scowled at him. "Now-"

"If you haven't been helping Black, how did you know he was here?" demanded Harry.

"The marauders map," he said simply.

"You know how to _work_ it?" Harry was startled.

"Of course I do, I helped write it," said Remus, waving aside the information impatiently.

"You _what_?" said all four of them in incredulity.

"You're _Moony? _That's what Snape meant about 'directly from the manufacturers'…" mumbled Remy.

"Anyway, I saw you at Hagrids, as I presumed you would go down there to be there for Buckbeak's execution. But by this time, you were accompanied by someone else."

"We were _not,"_ said Hermione.

"Yes, you were. I saw all five of you approach the whomping willow from Hagrid's hut- at first, I thought it must have been the map malfunctioning-"

"It was probably your brain malfunctioning," muttered Remy. Black made a sound like a laugh, but began coughing loudly.

"Then I spotted Sirius," Remus continiued, "who attacked you, then dragged two of you into the whomping willow."

"_One _of us," corrected Ron.

"No, Ron, two of you."

There was a mystified silence.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," said Remy sarcastically. "Ron and his formulated companion, Ernie-"

"No, his rat," croaked Black. Remy turned to him, bewildered.

"You cannot be serious."

"Well, actually, my name-"

"What does my rat have to do with anything?" demamded Ron indignantly, clutching Scabbers closer to him.

"_Everything,_" breathed Remus.

"That's no rat," croaked Black. Remy rolled her eyes. "He's an animagus by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

------

More Silence.

Remy was half sceptical, and half annoyed that her last remaining relative was quite clearly insane.

"You're both mental," stated Remy simply.

"What a load of rubbish!" said Ron.

"Ridiculous," said Hermione faintly.

"Uncle Remus, is psychological corrosion hereditary?" asked Remy, eyeing Black warily.

"That's impossible- You _killed _Pettigrew!" Harry shouted so loudly that both Blacks jumped

"That's what everyone thought…" growled Sirius Black. "I meant to, but little Peter got the better of me… not this time!"

Black lunged for Scabbers, across Remy and onto Ron's legs, grabbing acquisitively for the rat.

"Give- me -that- rat!" Black snarled.

"Ouch, get off me!" growled Remy, trying to pull Black back to a civilised sitting position, in fear of Ron's leg breaking even more, or being crushed to death herself. Remus grabbed hold of Black, and together they wrenched him away from Ron. Remus spoke to Black.

"Sirius, wait! You can't just do it like that- we HAVE to explain! Harry and Adara have a right to know why. You don't think your own child deserves the truth?" he added quietly. To Remy's surprise, Black ceased to look annoyed and stared at her guiltily, before taking a seat beside her. His eyes were still locked on Scabbers hungrily. Eew.

"Uncle Remus, my _name _is _Remy!"_Everybody calls me that, why shouldn't you?" said Remy in exasperation.

"Ok, ok. Now, let us explain everything-. Here are your wands back, just so you can be sure," he said, handing them back all of their wands.

"Make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was chucked into Azkaban for…" Black snarled.

"Remy's right, you're both completely off your heads. I'm out of here-" began Ron, and he tried to stand up, but Lupin spoke.

"No, Ron, you have to stay and hear us out. Keep a tight hold on Peter though, we don't want him escaping," Remus instructed.

"HIS NAME IS SCABBERS!" Ron shouted. Scabbers was struggling inside Ron's pocket, and Ron grasped him as to prevent him from escaping.

"Professor Lupin, there was an entire street who saw Black murder Pettigrew…" said Harry exasperatedly.

"They got it wrong. They thought they saw Sirius kill Pettigrew, but they were wrong. Ron is holding Peter."

There was a long silence.

_Remy, they're both completely out of their minds, _Harry thought desperately at her.

_I know. It's just so ridiculous. How come I had no idea he was crazy?_

"Why do I get landed with the nutters?" Remy wondered aloud, burying her face in her hands in aggravation.

Hermione stepped forward and spoke timidly.

"Professor- it can't be true. Scabbers _can't _be Peter Pettigrew."

"Why not, Hermione?" asked Remus pleasantly.

"Because humans aren't usually three inches long with tails and covered in fur, that's why, you moron!" interrupted Remy frustratedly.

"Stop interrupting," Black snapped at her. Remy opened her mouth to say something very rude, but Hermione continued.

"Because when we did animagi in class, I researched the list of registered animagi, and there were only seven. Pettigrew wasn't on there," she explained.

_We did animagi in class? _Remy thought.

_We were probably playing hangman or something, _Harry thought back.

"Sirius, James and Peter were illegal animagi. They weren't on the list. They became animagi to keep me company when I transformed at the full moon. Otherwise, I would have been stuck inside here, alone, to rip this furniture to shreds. No, this place isn't haunted. Those noises were created by me, in werewolf form. I felt a natural desire to destruct. Dumbledore made me a prefect in the hope that I would excersize some control over my troublesome best friends. However, I admit to failing abysmally. I even helped them write the marauders map. James was Prongs, Sirius was Padfoot, I was Moony, and Peter was Wormtail. I now realise how much danger I had caused by allowing my friends to put theirselves at such a high risk for me. Once, Sirius played a dreadful trick on Snape-"

"You did? Ooh, what was it?" asked Remy. Remus glared at her to shut up. Black made a scathing noise.

"Snivellus deserved it. If only James hadn't stopped me… He was desperate to find out what we were up to, where we went every month… sneaking around…" Black muttered.

"Sirius thought it would be- amusing, to tell Snape how to get to the shrieking shack and get past the whomping willow." Remy sniggered. "Snape wasn't very fond of us, and vise versa. Especially James. We think he was jealous of his talent on the Quidditch pitch, his popularity… and whatever else. If your father, Harry, had not stopped Snape, he would have met a fully fledged were-wolf at the end of the tunnel. I probably would have killed him," said Remus gravely.

"Hey, no-one said anything about death, that's not cool," said Remy, looking crestfallen. "You idiot," she muttered at Black.

"So _that_'s why Snape hates you," Harry mumbled to Remus.

"That's right," said the cold, malicious voice of Severus Snape from the doorway.

-----------------------

Both Black and Remy leapt to their feet in alarm, Remy's wand raised at Snape.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Snape shouted, and Harry, Ron and Remus's wands flew out of their hands. He seemed to have forgotten Remy and Hermione's, and rounded on Black.

"Justice is sweet… how I _hoped _to be the one to catch you…" Snape snarled, his face now inches from her father's. Harry was standing over near Snape, next to Ron and Hermione, and Remy was right behind Black.

_Wow, they hate each other! This is intense! _Remy thought.

_They look like they're ready to kill each other, _though Harry in awe.

"Sirius is innocent, Severus, let us explain- are you really going to condemn an innocent man over a schoolboy grudge of the past?" asked Remus desperately. Snape glared at him.

"Ah, Snivellus, once again you've put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion," sneered Black harshly in Snape's face. Remy sniggered.

"Shut your mouth, Black! Both of you!"

He then shot cords out of the end of his wand, binding Remus and sending him falling to the floor.

"Hey! Let him go!" shouted Harry in anger.

Snape ignored him, and turned back swiftly to face Black, brandishing his wand in his face. Black was taken aback, and slowly recoiled from the now maliciously smirking Snape.

"I could do it, you know… But why deny you to the dementors? They're so… _longing _to see you," he sneered. All the colour drained from Black's face. "Ah, do I detect a flicker of fear? The dementor's kiss… it is said to be horrible to witness, but I'll do my best." Snape's wand travelled dangerously towards Black's heart.

This set Remy off. She stepped forward and pointed her wand directly at Snape's face.

"If you want to remain conscious for the next ten minutes, I suggest you back off. Don't you _dare _lay one finger in him or I'll personally curse you all the way back to your dark, creepy lair of doom," she snarled, poking her wand at him threateningly with each word. "You're not going to listen to what they have to say because of a ridiculously childish and may I say _ancient _grudge?"

"Absolutely pathetic," muttered Harry.

"I- WILL – NOT – BE – SPOKEN – TO – LIKE – THAT! YOU, POTTER, ARE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER- IMPERTINENT AND SWOLLEN HEADED!" Snape roared, turning on Remy and Harry, who were now side by side.

"Please, professor- would it hurt to listen to what they have to say?" said Hermione quietly.

"KEEP QUIET YOU INSUFFERABLE KNOW-IT-ALL! You are _all _facing suspension from this school, for being associated with-!"

"Scared, are we, Snivellus? Scared of Black being innocent, because you're too proud to admit it? Scared of not finally getting your precious justice?"

"BLACK, FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, HOLD YOUR TONGUE! Now, hurry up, I am taking you _all _back up to the castle. _After you_," he said dangerously, gesturing for them to leave.

"We're not going anywhere," Ron piped up.

"No," said Remy, crossing her arms mutinously.

"I'm _serious, _Black, if you don't move-"

"I thought _he _was Sirius Black?" said Remy puzzledly. Black snickered slightly and Snape's already enraged expression transformed to one of sheer fury.

_Harry, grab hermione's wamd, _thought Remy urgently. Harry slowly reached around into Hermione's pocket and removed her wand, with Ron's help. She was so distracted by Remy, Black and Snape that she didn't even notice.

Snape looked as if he was having an aneurysm

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR YOUR STUPID, INSOLENT, SMART-ALEC ANSWERS YOU STUPID, ARROGANT GIRL- YOU ARE JUST LIKE YOUR STUPID MONGREL FATHER WITH YOUR CONCEITED, OBNOXIOUS, OVERCONFIDENT CONDUCT AND YOUR-"

_1, 2, 3…_

Remy and Harry's knock-back jinxes sent snape rapidly flying into the wall behind him, which collapsed under his weight with a deafening crash. White dust rose all around him from the crumbled wall.

"_What did you guys just do?" _burbled Ron

"Remy! Harry! You attacked a teacher!" squealed Hermione in outrage.

"That was- really cool, actually- very foolish of you. You should have left him to me," said Black softly.

Although very serious, Black couldn't help staring at Remy proudly. She glared at him and he immediately composed his sombre expression. Harry untied Remus.

"Thankyou, Harry," he said, jumping to his feet and throwing the cords aside.

"Tell us about Peter Pettigrew," demanded Harry, pointing his wand from Lupin to Black.

"Prove that you're innocent," ordered Remy. Lupin nodded.

"Very well. Ron, _give me that rat," _he instructed, holdingout his hand.

"No! You're crazy, he's _not _peter Pettigrew! Leave him alone!" Ron cried, as Lupin made to grab at him.

Then, Hermione gasped.

"He's missing a toe! Aria told us- All they found of Pettigrew was his-"

"Finger!" cried Black impatiently. Remy craned her neck to see Scabbers. On his left paw, three grungy little claws protruded. On his right, four did.

"_Cher dieu," _Remy gasped. "Ron, Ron, _give Uncle Remus the rat!" _she urged.

"No! Loads of rats have missing toes! He probably just got into a fight- it was probably _Crookshanks_- he _can't _be! Scabbers has ben in my family for-"

"Twelve years?" said Black sardonically. "A curiously long life for a common garden rat!" Ron looked thoughtful.

"Ronald, are you going to submerge from denial and hand over the rat, or will we have to take it from you?" Remy threatened, extending her wand.

Ron allowed Lupin to take Scabbers, looking apprehensive. Both Remy and Sirius Black looked animated with eagerness. Hermione was staring at Scabbers, intrigued, and Harry looked anxious.

Shaking slightly, Remus set the rat down, aimed his wand at it, and flicked it, muttering,

"_Restorus_ _homosapius,"_- and then –

with an explosion worthy of mauna loa, Scabbers erupted into a fully grown man.

He coughed and spluttered, while everyone stared on in shock. His mousy hair was long, wispy and matted, and he had small, watery brown eyes. His body was short and round, and his robes were filthy, torn and dusted.

"Hello, Peter," said Remus pleasantly, as if rats regularly exploded into deceased friends around him.

s**orry, cliffie again! I really wanted to post it though!**

**lol next one up pronto**

**xxyelo**

**review!**


	19. AUTHORS NOTE

Hello all my lovely readers. I sincerely apologize for my lack in update of late. I know how frustrating it is when someone doesn't update. I am very ill and it is surprisingly difficult to concentrate on writing a story chapter whilst one is battling their way through four boxes of tissues. As I can't post the next chapter yet, I decided I would post a rather pointless apology instead. I hope that the long wait will not put any of you off my story, (assuming that people are actually reading it) as I greatly appreciate your criticism and reviews. I will try my hardest to update by tomorrow morning (I am in Australia, so I think that might be at night for the U.S). I am working as hard as I can, as I enjoy writing my fanfic probably more than you do reading it :-P. Sorry again!


	20. second complications

**Finally! next chapter! my fingers hurt. lol.**

**this is longer than the last two, but cliffies are unavoidable at this point, i am afraid. **

**Also, I need all of your opinions, this is vital, my precious readers. send me a yes or no in a review, or even a PM. (preferably review!): **

**Whilst back in time, should Remy, Hermione and Harry catch Pettigrew using the invisibility cloak? or should Pettigrew escape? ** yes or no!

**Enjoy!**

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'Peter' looked around the room, rubbing his small rat-like eyes to observe the settings of the room. He jumped in alarm, and turned to face Black and Remus, practically grovelling at their feet.

"Remus! Sirius! My old friends-"

"YOU SOLD JAMES AND LILY TO VOLDEMORT, DIDN'T YOU?" roared Black, making Pettigrew recoil with fear.

"Me? Betray- that's…p-preposterous," he stuttered, looking shifty.

"How did you know that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew?" demanded Ron, dumbstruck, staring at Pettigrew as though he was an illusion of some kind.

Remus turned to Black. "You know Sirius, that is a fair question. How did you know it was Scabbers?"

"I asked the minister if he had finished with his newspaper one day- and he happily gave it to me. On the front cover, I saw the picture of this boy and his family," he explained, gesturing to Ron. "When I looked closer, I saw the rat that he had on his shoulder. I recognized him. how many times had I seen him transform? And the missing toe gave it all away."

He glared at Pettigrew, who, sure enough, was missing a finger.

"I don't believe it… it's so.. _brilliant,_" said Remus. "So you cut it off just before you transformed, did you Peter?"

Pettigrew whimpered and mumbled something.

"He yelled out for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, he blew the whole street apart and cut off his finger, transforming into a rat, leaving the blame on me."

"So you've come to kill him?" Harry said.

"Yes," growled Black, eyes shining. Pettigrew whimpered.

"See?" Pettigrew squeaked. "See why I faked my death? I knew this was going to happen, I knew he would come and try to kill me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to escape from Azkaban? When no-one had ever done it before? Wow, I must say, I am impressed," said Remy sarcastically.

"He has dark powers none of us can dream of! The dark lord- he taught him things-"

Black laughed, a mirthless laugh that sent chills down Remy's spine.

"Me? Voldemort teach _me _tricks? I'd rather have _died _than betrayed my best friends! But you… you're so greedy that you give in to temptation, even if it costs you your friends lives. You're a coward. And you haven't been hiding from me for twelve years. Voldemort's supporters aren't very happy with you, are they?" he mocked.

Pettigrew looked fearful.

"What…I don't know what you're talking- that's ridiculous, Sirius…"

"sounds like the double crosser failed to complete his mission. You gave the information to Voldemort, but he met his downfall… if any of the death eaters got wind that you were still alive-"

"This… this is madness- Remus, tell him I'm innocent-"

"If you were innocent, why did you spend twlve years as a rat!" Sirius growled.

"Yes, Peter- I, too, am curious as to why you would elect to spend twelve years as a rat," said Remus somewhat sardonically. Pettigrew wiped his forhead of sweat, and began mumbling something inoherrent under his breath.

"I was scared! The death eaters would have been after me, because I put their spy, Sirius Black, in Azkaban!"

"You lying piece of FILTH! How dare you!" Sirius barked, " Me, a spy for Voldemort? I don't know why I didn't see you as the spy from the start."

"That's- preposterous…me, a spy? Don't know…what you're talking about, Sirius-"

"Lily and James only made you Secret Keeper because I suggested it! I bet it was the best moment of your life, giving Voldemort the information of their whereabouts…"

"I have a question," announced Remy suddenly.

"Go ahead," said Black.

"If _he's _the betrayer of Lily and James, and a follower of Voldy and _he _want's to kill Harry, why hasn't he ever tried before? He's been sleeping in the same _dormitory _as him for years." Pettigrew turned to her.

"_Thankyou_, dear girl, _thank-"_

"You can shut your ugly face, you piece of filth!" Remy snarled, kicking him away.

"Because he'd never do anything unless there was something in it for him!" growled Black, "He's a filthy, cowardly, lying traitor! And he was scared to commit a murder under Dumbledore's nose. He was too scared, when his master was only half alive. So you hid with a wizard family, keeping an ear out for Voldemort's return, didn't you?"

Pettigrew opened and closed his mouth like a fish.  
"Er- Mr. Black?" It was Hermione. Black looked alarmed at being spoken to like this.

"How did you escape from Azkaban without dark magic?"

"I suppose knowing _this _scumbag was here at Hogwarts kept me sane. I had hope. I had an ambition. Finally, a chance to prove my innocence. After waiting all that time. They fed us so little in Azkaban… I was very thin, and even thinner as a dog. So thin I could easily slip through the bars. The dementors couldn't sense any horrible or distressing emotions about me, as my knowledge of Peter's whereabouts gave me an unusual optimism. So I was able to slip past them, unnoticed. They weren't interested in me, as my feelings at the time were less human, in my animagus form. From there I swam and walked my way here as a dog, and have been living here ever since, unknown to anybody, even Remus." He finished. He was eyeing Pettigrew with utter disgust. "I had to do something. I was the only person who knew he was still alive. It was like someone had lit a fire in my head, and not even the dementors could put it out. They feed off distressing emotions… but all the emotions had been sucked from me already after twelve years. All there was inside me was this burning fire, this spark of hope."

Harry was still frowning after Black's speech.

"But- you said you were the secret keeper! He faked his death because he was scared you would come after him, and kill him, like you did my parents!" Black looked terribly frustrated now. Remy could relate.

"Harry, listen to what you're saying! It's the other way around to what everyone thought! Sirius tracked _Petttigrew _down because _Pettigrew _betrayed Lily and James. Pettigrew had no _reason _to be hiding from my father. The only reason he would have to hide is because he had a guilty conscience, and was scared of Sirius going after him to get revenge on your parents! Because Pettigrew betrayed them! Then Sirius did try to seek his revenge, but was framed by this heap of trash," snarled Remy, glaring at Pettigrew, who was still stuttering his innocence. "But this brings me to something else. Where were _you _that night? If Pettigrew betrayed Lily and James, and you went after him for revenge and then he framed you by faking his death and whatever, where were _you _when Lily, James and my mum died?" Remy asked fiercely, turning on Black.

Black looked on the verge of _tears. _This was odd.

"I- I was secret keeper," he choked. "I switched positions with Peter, not thinking Voldemort would interrogate a talentless bit of slime like him. The only people who knew I had issued the switch were James, Lily and Louisa, and by that time they were…It was my fault for trusting him, because the first thing he did was go running to Voldemort out of fear. I as good as killed your parents, Harry, with my stupid decision. I'm sorry," he choked out, looking from Harry to Remy sincerely. Pettigrew was muttering frantically to Remus, still. Harry looked unyielding, but there was a flicker of resignation in his eyes.

"And Remy- I was out at the time, doing work for Dumbledore. when I came back and found your mother, dead, it broke my heart. I left you there and went after Pettigrew, because I knew that whatever I did I would die or go to prison. I had no idea Pettigrew would betray Lily and James in the first place. Had I not switched with Pettigrew, you would probably have a mother. Perhaps not a father, but a mother at least. Can you ever forgive me?" he croaked.

Remy wanted more than anything to forgive him. She could see it now. It all fit. Her father was innocent.

_Harry, he's telling the truth. You know the visions? Of the man telling Voldemort things? The man is Pettigrew. I'm such an idiot for not realising earlier, but I didn't know what he looked like. Let's forgive him, _Remy thought to Harry intently.

"Please believe me," croaked Black again, looking at them pleadingly.

Harry nodded, and Remy whispered,

"Of course," at which Black's face broke into an expression of utmost relief. This made Pettigrew wail in despair. Lupin was eyeing him warily now, wand never leaving Pettigrew's direction. Black stood up and stood next to Remus. Remy gladly handed him her wand as he held his hand out for it.

"Well, Sirius?" Remus prompted.

"Let's kill him. Together," said Black hungrily.  
"No- NO! please don't kill me!" he shrieked, crossing over to Ron. He crumbled at Ron's feet, while everyone watched on in disgust.

"Please… please, Ron, I was your rat, I was a god rat, wasn't I? Your pet, your pet rat-"

"If you made a better rat than human, Peter, it's nothing to be boasting about," said Black viciously. Ron backed away from Pettigrew, looking revulsed.

"I let you sleep in my _bed!" _he spat. Pettigrew shuffled over to Hermione and grabbed the hem of her robes.

"Sweet girl, clever girl… you won't let them kill me, will you?" he whimpered. Hermione pulled her robes away in horror. He then grovelled to Remy.

"Remy, oh how you look like your father- he doesn't know what he's saying! We were such good friends- You wouldn't let him kill me? Let your own father kill me in front of your eyes?" he gasped, tugging at her robes. She kicked him hard in the guts and he landed on his back, clutching his stomach.

"Come off it, you repulsive pile of bat droppings! If it was legal, I'd kill you myself!" she growled. Harry's turn.

"Oh, Harry, you look so much like James… me and James were the bst of friends.. he wouldn't want me killed, think of him, think of him-"

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO THEM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HARRY! AND IF YOU LAY ONE FINGER ON HER AGAIN, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU DIE IN THE MOST PAINFUL WAY POSSIBLE!" Black bellowed, sending Pettigrew jumping back from Harry and Remy in fear.

"You should have realised, Peter, that if Voldemort didn't kill you then we would," said Remus, as both men turned on Pettigrew, wands raised. Remy was watching intently, and Hermione had her hands over her eyes. Ron had gone white. Harry lost his mind.

"NO!" Harry roared, jumping in front of Pettigrew. "You can't- don't kill him," Harry gasped, as everyone loked bewildered.

"Harry, have you completely lost your mind?" cried Remy in outrage. "Have you even been paying attention?"

Black turned to Harry, also outraged.

"Harry, this- this cringing piece of filth is the reason you have no parents," he said, his voice shaking with rage.

"I know," said Harry. "But I don't think my dad would have wanted his two best friends to become killers, just for _him. _We'll take him up to the castle."

"Thankyou, Harry, _thankyou-" _snivelled Pettigrew-

"Get off me! I said the castle. That way the dementors can have him," said Harry flatly, staring down at Pettigrew in deep loathing.

Remy looked at Black, one eyebrow raised in incredulity. He shrugged, a similar expression on his face. Neither of them had a clue what had driven Harry to act so oddly. Except maybe Remy, who would surely interrohate him later. It seemed, apart from the fact that Pettigrew had not been killed, that everything was close to perfect. Right then, none of the other little details mattered to her. Sirius Black, her father, was innocent. He was real. And he was right there in front of their eyes.

_You have a godfather, _Remy thought to Harry.

_You have a father, _Harry thought back.

*

Remy had to admit, she didn't often stroll through underground passageways with a werewolf, a convicted murderer, a floating, unconscious potions master and a man who was so abhorrent he didn't deserve to be alive. Pettigrew was chained to Ron and Remus, who edged through the passage sidelong. Hermione walked right behind them, Remy and Sirius came not far behind, and Harry brought up the rear.

Snape was being suspended in mid air by Sirius, (using Remy's wand) having his head scraped and bumped unceremoniously against the jagged, rocky, ceiling. Remy and Harry were snickering, as they were sure Sirius wasn't knocking Snape's greasy head along the ceiling by accident.

"Hey, Sirius, maybe if you make him hit the ceiling really hard, he won't remember that we knocked him out in the first place," Remy chortled. Sirius wasn't hesitant in the least in proceeding with this suggestion, though Harry was sure Snape would latch on to any excuse to have Harry and Remy expelled, no matter how hard they concussed him.

"I'm so glad I finally have you back," said Black quietly, looking down at her. "Both of you," he added to Harry. "I thought I was going to sit in Azkaban for my whole life and rot, and the truth would die with me," he said, his voice breaking slightly. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault that neither of you grew up properly, with real parents. If only I had been smarter…" he added to Remy, his eyes full of sorrow.

"It isn't your fault," said Remy firmly. "If we were to sit down and play 'point the finger' we'd be here all day. Just about everybody played a part in what happened that night, but the only person who intended for anything terrible to happen was Pettigrew. It's his fault. You shouldn't feel guilty."

He looked grateful.

"I'm glad you think that. You have no idea how happy I am to see you again- I thought I never would," he said, still looking at her like he had never seen her before. That would be close to the truth.

"And I thought I'd never get to meet you, ever. We would have visited you in Azkaban eventually, though, right Harry?" Remy assured Sirius jokingly. He laughed.

"So, do you know what this means, you two?" Sirius asked happily, putting an arm around them both.

"That you can always get what you want by jinxing people?" suggested Remy.

"Close. But no. Harry?" he asked. They laughed.

"You're free," Harry and Remy said at the same time.

"Yep. And, well, I understand if you both want to stay where you are- with your aunt and uncle, Harry, and with Remus, Remy- But if you ever wanted a new home, you could always…well-" he broke off, looking sheepish, as Harry's head collided with a bit of protruding rock.

"Live with you?" they wondered, as Remy felt ecstatic all of a sudden.

"I can understand if you don't want to, but-"

"Are you mental? Of course I do!" Remy piped up happily. "You do as well, right, Harry?"

"Of course! To get away from the Dursleys, _anything. _I'd love to," he said enthusiastically. Sirius face broke into the first true smile they had ever seen. Remy glanced at Harry in elation. It would be just the three of them, living together, finally as a family.

"Hey, Sirius, you know when you mugged me?" Remy reminded him casually. Sirius looked awkward.

"You were mugged by Sirius? Remy, why didn't you tell me!" Harry gasped, scandalised.

"Sorry, but I didn't want to stir up any unessecary trouble," she deduced, shrugging.

"Sorry about that. But I needed the money, and I didn't know it was you. Lucky it was, though, because the gringotts key in there was a copy of my own, obviously. There were no hassles getting Crookshanks to withdraw some money for me. He helped me with everything. He even tried to catch Pettigrew for me. He's a very smart cat," Sirius added casually.

"_Crookshanks?_" marvelled Harry. "Wow! Don't tell Hermione."

Sirius laughed. "I won't. And I _did _return your wallet, Rem, give me some credit," he said, grinning.

"Sirius, I don't dispute that you returned my wallet. However there was one particular item missing when you sent it back."

Silence.

"The photo?" she reminded him.

"Oh yeah! Sorry. I have it here, I just really wanted to look at it-" he began, pulling the photo containing himself, Remy and Remy's mother out of his pocket.

"You keep it," Remy said, smiling. "I have another. You don't have any."

"Thankyou," he said sincerely. He looked slightly relieved that he was able to keep it. Harry tapped Sirius on the shoulder to point something out about Snape- but Sirius gasped in pain.

"That's the shoulder Remy nearly broke," he said through gritted teeth. Remy and Harry chuckled.

"Sorry about that, by the way. But you did nearly break mine when you stole my wallet, so it's all cool," she said casually. He ruffled up her hair.

"So, I'm taking it you guys aren't Snape's star pupils?" he asked dryly.

They launched into a tirade about Snape and how he absolutely despised them for no reason. Sirius let out a bark like laugh.

"Sounds to me like you two are exactly like me and James, when we were your age. Even in looks- apart from you being a girl, Remy. Black and Potter, legendary troublemakers, next generation. No wonder he doesn't like you," he deduced, examining them both.

"He keeps saying we're 'just like our fathers'. I guess he's right, then," said Harry proudly.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, and came out into the light, Remy stopped dead.

"Remy?" Harry asked tentatively.

"What's wrong?" asked Sirius in a panicky voice. She clutched her head, which was searing with pain. Harry grabbed her hand.

_She saw Pettigrew, running towards his master… free to rejoin and revive him… escaped yet again from fate…he was in his animagus form… nothing could get in his path, he was too fast- he raced amidst the grass, which shone in the light of the full moon… she heard howling-_

"Uncle Remus!" Remy cried suddenly, wrenching her eyes open. Remus had stopped dead, too, and had gone positively rigid. He was staring, transfixed, at the full moon, which shone brightly above them. Sirius froze, and held an arm out to hold Harry and Remy back. Remus's silhouette had gone limbs began to shake.

"He hasn't taken the wolfsbane tonight! He's not safe!" screamed Hermione shrilly.

"Run!" barked Sirius. "Run, now!" he said, pushing Harry, Remy and Hermione in the other direction. But Ron was still chained to Lupin, looking terrorised, Pettigrew with him.

Remy made to run, but Sirius caught her.

"Leave it to me! Just get out of here!" he said urgently. There was a terrible snarling noise, as Lupin's head began to lengthen, and so did his body. His shoulders were hunching, hair was sprouting rapidly, and his hands were turning into clawed paws. Remy watched in horror as the werewolf reared and snapped it's teeth, letting a blood-curdling howl escape from its lips. It wrenched itself out of the chains binding it to Pettigrew and Ron- Sirius had transformed into a dog, and now leapt forward, dragging the werewolf away from Pettigrew and Ron, teeth clasped around its neck. Harry, Remy and Hermione were transfixed.

"Get Pettigrew!" shrieked Remy, remembering what she had just seen. Pettigrew had grabbed Remus's wand, and was aiming it at Ron, who was on the ground- but Remy leapt at him, much faster-

"No you don't, you little creep!" she screeched, and lunged forward at him, trapping his legs and they toppled to the ground. Harry quickly helped her, and they grabbed an arm each.

"Try to do that again and I might just ignore Harry's protests, get Sirius over here and kill you," growled Remy. Pettigrew whimpered. The fight between Lupin and Sirius continued, the two animals ripping at eachother and snapping their jaws together viciously, rolling around violently on the ground in an intense brawl. What they hadn't realised was that Pettigrew still had Remus wand. There was a bang and a burst of light- Ron fell to the floor- and Remy and Harry were flung backwards.

"No!" Remy yelled, getting up, but it was too late. Pettigrew was now a rat, and scuttled away in the other direction faster than any of them could have imagined. But Remy still ran after it.

"Remy, no! Come back! It's dangerous- look out!" Hermione screamed piercingly, just as the dog and the werewolf leapt past Remy, still snarling and fighting. Remy was thrown backwards as they ran into her. She couldn't see Pettigrew. She could have screamed at the top of her voice in anger. Pettigrew had escaped. But just then, there came a high-pitched howl from the trees- and Remus was bounding off towards the call. Sirius made to follow, but,

"Sirius! Pettigrew escaped! He's gone!" Remy shrieked desperately. The black dog paused, laying on the ground, wounded, his eyes flickering from Remy to the forest. In an instant, the sound of his paws grew softer and softer as he ran off across the grounds and through the trees.

"_What are we going to do?_" Harry said sharply, turning to Remy and Hermione. Ron was unconscious on the floor.

"We should go and get help-" began Hermione, looking around desperately as though the answer would fall from the sky.

Then, from somewhere in the grounds, they heard a dog, whimpering and yelping in pain.

"No! Sirius is injured! Remus will kill him! We have to help him!" Remy said frantically. She didn't even have to contemplate the decision. She had to help Sirius, or he would die. And she couldn't let that happen.

She broke off at a run towards the trees, Harry right behind her.

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**Hope you liked it!**

** review me! I am on 98 reviews, and the 100th reviewer will have the next chapter dedicated to them, and they will have the priveledge to run around announcing 'I was Black7369's 100th reviewer!', and I will love them forever. Also, they will have the honour of being notified of their title by Personal Message. **

**have I bribed you enough?**

**remember to answer yes or no to my survey in the A/N above. the majority vote on whether they should catch pettigrew or not will not be disclosed, so that it will be a surprise.**

**happy reading!**

**xx love you all, yelo.**


	21. not enough time

_**Sorry it's so short, but I am rather busy. the votes are in, and taking into consideration many things people have pointed out, I have decided the outcome of this story. sorr if i disappoint anybody, but I'm sure you'll like it. (hopefully)**_

_**Also, because I am feeling charitable, I would like to take this opportuntity to reccomend the works of Phantom-of-the-Potter, and Livvy27. they are my bestest buddies! please read them, so that their stories can be even more widely enjoyed. I love their fanfics, so should you! xx.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_Remy- wait up! _Harry's thought rang through her head.

_Where did he go? _She replied dazedly.

_Towards the Black Lake._

_We have to hurry, Harry, I won't let him die. There are dementors everywhere. We need to save him. _Remy thought back determinedly. She was sprinting faster than she ever had in her life through the darkness of the trees, brushing branches aside where necessary. Harry's quick footsteps were audible behind her, as they ran in a blind, reckless panic to where Sirius was. Then, they reached a clearing. Pushing past the last layer of trees, Remy and Harry found themselves standing on the bank of the black lake, which sparkled eerily in the moonlight before them. Further down, on the water's edge, lay a man in tattered robes, wounded, dishevelled and bleeding.

"_Sirius!"_

They raced to his side.

"Sirius… Sirius wake up," Remy said, her voice quavering, trying to shake him back to consciousness. His eyes still did not open.

"Come on, Sirius- please wake up!" said Harry desperately, as they both shook him urgently.

All of a sudden- they froze. An eerie frost was descending upon them. The light reflected from the shining lake dimmed, and as she looked up, Remy saw the surface of the water slowly chilling to ice. Remy shivered involuntarily. Darkness was falling unnaturally quickly. Remy felt all of the emotion drain out of her so abruptly, it might have been sucked out of her with a vaccum cleaner. Hundreds of dementors were sweeping across the lake towards them.

"Harry…Harry…Harry get your wand out- _they're coming, Harry!" _Remy gasped unevenly, touching her icy hand to Harry's. He looked at her in a panic, and drew his wand. They were coming closer, their skeletal hands outstretched, tattered black cloaks billowing… Remy drew her wand too.

One was about to swoop down on Sirius-

"_Expecto Patronum!" _Remy cried, and a silver shield expanded momentarily- then disappeared.

"_Expecto- Expecto Patronum-" _but it was not good enough. She could see their shadowy hoods as they swept down to ravage the three humans below… "EXPECTO PATRONUM! Work, you stupid thing," Remy sobbed, as the patronus disappeared again. She was panicking. Harry had stood up beside her

"_Expecto…Expecto Patronum!" _Neither of them could get more than a momentary shield. They cast wildly at the hundreds of dementors as they swooped in and out- but could only hold them off fleetingly- They were losing hope… they were going to die…. Sirius gasped for air as a dementor lowered its mouth to him, inhaled, and swept away-

_Remy, we can do this. We're going to live. We can do his together, I know we can, _thought Harry, taking her free hand, _Think… we're going to live with Sirius. It'll just be us. Everything will be ok. If we do this… come on, on the count of three-_

-Then a dementor leant down at Sirius' face-

_We'll be together, him, you and I, and we can put all of this behind us…We finally have someone to go to, Remy- think…._

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!" _they shouted together. The light was blinding. The bright, platinum light from both of their wands joined, seemed to expand metres, casting away the hooded monsters-

_We're doing it, Harry… _But the dementors were closing in fast when the patronus evaporated. Remy could feel her head spinning. Her surroundings grew blurry… images were flickering behind her eyelids, and her head was throbbing. Her mother…. a flash of green light… Buckbeak… Lily Potter- Remy heard her screaming for mercy, and for her son, ever so faintly as her eyelids threatened to close, and her legs wanted to give in.

"_Expe-Expecto…" _Harry swayed on his feet beside her. Remy, growing fainter, looked across the lake, for something had caught her eye. A bright, shining dog and stag, galloping across the water, glowing radiantly. They charged away the dementors in their path, with an air of admirable supremacy. Then, Remy and Harry collapsed beside Sirius, and knew no more.

*

"It's a miracle none of them died- we know what Black's like… very nice work, Snape, we are very lucky you were there…"

"Thankyou, Minister,"

"Order of Merlin, first Class, you deserve, I should think…"

"Thankyou very much, minister,"

"Good lord- how ever did you get such a nasty cut? Must have been Black, I suppose," muttered Fudge.

"Actually, minister, it was Black- Black's daughter, that is- Potter, Weasley and Granger."

"_What?_"

"Black had confounded them. It was obvious- they seemed to believe Black to be possibly innocent. They had no idea what they were doing. But it was very irresponsible for going after Black in the first place, I must say. The way they seem to think they can get away with things, those four… it has rather inflated their heads. Albus Dumbledore has always allowed them, especially Potter, a great deal of freedom… Do you really think he should be given such unique treatment? Personally, I think he should be suspended. He has broken so many school rules already, illegally visiting Hogsmeade with the help of that _Black._"

"Yes, yes, that will all be taken care of in due time, Severus," said the minister airily. Remy couldn't move. She had no idea where she was… her head was throbbing still. She couldn't seem to force her eyelids open.

"I do wonder why the dementors retreated so easily, myself."

"I have no clue," said Snape.

"And yet Black- I mean, Blacks- and Potter…?"

"Unconscious. I found them that way. I conjured up stretchers and brought them all back up to the castle, along with Weasley and Granger."

"I see…"

Remy's eyes flickered open. Madame Pomfrey was standing over her bed.

"Ah, hello there. You've woken up."

"Harry? Ron? Hermione?" Remy said deliriously, sitting up. Hermione was sitting on the end of Ron's bed, and Harry was in a bed on her other side.

"Shhh, it's ok now, you've been through a lot-"

"Where's my father?" Remy asked sharply. Harry sat up too.

"Where's Sirius?"

"It's ok, there's nothing to worry about! You're safe! He's locked upstairs, and a dementor is about to perform the kiss." Remy's stomach turned icy cold.

"WHAT? HAVE THEY COMPLETELY LOST THEIR HEADS? THEY CAN'T DO THAT!" Remy shouted hysterically, springing from the bed, grabbing Harry and Hermione and sprinting out the door.

"Come back here!" Madam Pomfrey yelled, running after them.

"We have to see Dumbledore, Remy, we have to find him-" muttered Harry urgently, but they ran headlong into Snape and Fudge, who had just entered the ward.

"Harry- what's going on? What is all this- Miss, Black please calm down- have they had any chocolate, Madam Pomfrey? They must be suffering immensely from the dementors…"

Remy was shouting at the top of her voice, but the minister didn't seem to notice.

"Minister, listen!" Harry said frustratedly, cutting across Remy;s frantic rambling. Fudge turned to him with a kind expression on his face."They've got the wrong man- Sirius is innocent-"

"You see, minister? Confounded, all of them," said snape slyly. Fudge nodded furtively.

"You listen here, you snivelling, malevolent, sadistic, greasy-haired prick! Are you just going to stand there lying smugly about us being confounded, or are you going to suck up your stupid, pathetic pride and help us prove that _Sirius is innocent!?"_ Remy snarled.

"Oh dear," said Fudge warily, adjusting his spectacles to see Remy more closely. "There appears to have been more than simply a confundus charm on _this _girl. She's simply ferocious!"

"On the contrary minister, Black seems to me to have made a complete recovery," said Snape grimly. Fudge looked concerned.

"Dear me," he said disapprovingly. "You mean to say that she is always like this?"

"Just listen to us, ok? Sirius never killed those people- it was Peter Pettigrew, but he faked his death, and framed Sirius! He was the one who-"

"Harry, Harry, Harry, you have been through a very arduous ordeal tonight," said Fudge kindly, a pitying smile on his face."You all must be so confused. Everything's under control…"

"NO IT ISN'T! YOU HAVE THE WRONG MAN! PLEASE- Please don't kill him… _Please," _Remy begged, as her voice softened in despair. Her head raced with confusion. They couldn't kill Sirius. They just couldn't.

"Please, minister, listen," said Hermione calmly. "We aren't confounded. We're telling the truth. We thought he was guilty too- but we know the truth now, and no matter how bizarre it seems, Black is innocent-"

"Black seems to have confounded them well, minister, don't you think?" said Snape silkily.

"WE- ARE – NOT –CONFUNDED YOU SNIDE, LYING BASTARD!" Remy shouted frenziedly.

"Why, you little-!"

"Minister! Professor! I do insist that you leave! You are quite clearly distressing this poor girl, and I would appreciate it if you would leave me to care for my patients!" instructed Madam Pomfrey shrilly. Snape and Fudge turned to leave- but Dumbledore burst through the door. Remy felt as though she would hyperventilate. They were going to kill her dad, and there was nothing anyone could do… Harry squeezed her hand.

_Dumbledore will make it ok. Don't worry, everything will be alright. _Harry's thought didn't sound any more convinced than Remy herself was.

"Professor!" Harry, Remy and Hermione cried at the same time. "Sirius is-"

"For heavens sake! What is this, a court room?" said Madam Pomfrey incredulously.

"I must speak with Mr. Potter, Miss Black and Miss Granger, Poppy, I do apologise," said Dumbledore kindly. He turned back to the others while Madam Pomfrey moved over to Ron's bed. "I have just spoken to Sirius Black, and-"

"Has he fed you a crackpot story about a rat, Peter Pettigrew and a-"

"Yes, Severus, Black's story is the same as theirs," said Dumbledore calmly, looking at Snape significantly.

"It is utter nonsense! I saw no rat, and no Pettigrew, dead or alive-"

"Hmmm…." mumbled Remy. "Maybe that's because we _knocked you out!_" she yelled dramatically. "You weren't even _conscious _when Pettigrew emerged, you numbskull!"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU-"

"Please, Severus, Miss Black, shall we discuss this without raising voices?" commanded Dumbledore. "Now, Cornelius, Severus, Poppy- I wish to speak to Harry, Remy and Hermione alone."

Madame Pomfrey strode to her office and slammed the door.

"Well, Dumbledore, the dementors will have arrived by now to perform the kiss- I shall see you upstairs," said Fudge gravely.

"Please don't… _please_," Remy wailed quietly, grabbing fistfuls of her dark hair. Harry wrapped an arm around her waist soothingly

_It will all be ok. _Snape was looking at Remy with an odd look of wicked glee and satisfaction.

"It's all _your _fault!" Remy screamed at Snape once Fudge had gone. "Why can't you just listen?! They're going to kill… you _can't _just let them… he's my…" she trailed off hopelessly, burying her face in Harry's shoulder.

"You don't you don't _believe _them, do you headmaster?" Snape marvelled. Dumbledore was staring at Snape as though disappointed.

"I must speak to them alone, Severus."

Snape left reluctantly.

"Listen to me carefully, you three, for there is not much time," said Dumbledore, the second the door had slammed shut. "I believe your story. There is nothing we can do, now. There is not one shred of evidence, as Pettigrew has disappeared, and professor Snape's story has proved to be much more convincing to the minister of magic than yours."

"Snape _hates _my father! He _knows _we're telling the truth! He just wants Sirius dead! He's just a great, humungous pile of-"

"Please, Miss Black-"

"What about Professor Lupin?"

"Professor Lupin, Hermione, is inconveniently incapable of human speech at the present point in time."

"But my dad!"

"Remy, my dear, let me explain-"

"There has to be something we can do! You believe us, right?"

"Harry, Harry, _listen to me. _There is indeed something we can do. But there isn't much time. Miss Granger, I think you will understand me when I say what we need is more _time,_" he said elusively, his blue eyes flickering to each of them in turn. Remy was very tempted to say, _well done, Einstein,_ but didn't.

"I know this seems a foolishly obvious conclusion," he said pleasantly, his gaze lingering on Remy as though he had read her thoughts, "But I daresay Hermione will explain to you what needs to be done." Hermione's eyes grew very wide.

"Oh! I see."

"Now- Sirius is now locked in the top room of the north tower. If you succeed, more than one innocent life may be saved," he said, eyes twinkling. "Three turns. You _must not be seen. _Good luck," he said, before drifting from the ward and out into the dark corridor.

"Is he _completely _mental, or just partially?" wondered Remy said sardonically, a note of underlying panic in her voice.

"Come over here, quickly!" urged Hermione, pulling them both over to her side by the wrist. She then pulled a long gold chain out from under her sweater, from which a spinning dial dangled. She draped it over the three of them.

"Er- Hermione, no offence, but this really isn't the time for jewellery-"

"Sh, Remy! Dumbledore said three turns, so…"

"What exactly are we-"

"Harry, be quiet!" She then turned the dial three times. Remy looked behind her- their surroundings were whizzing past at the speed of light, lights and people blurring together and moving around them at an incomprehensible speed. Then, the whirling stopped. They were in the hospital wing. It was light again.

"What the _hell _did you just do?" said Remy and Harry at the same time.

"Come on!" Hermione said distractedly, pulling them towards the front courtyard by the hands. They ran out onto the bridge, ducked around the side of the bridge wall at the end, and finally, Hermione stopped, puffing.

"Please, Hermione- an explanation?"

"Ok! This is a time turner. It's how I've been getting to all my classes. Dumbledore wanted us to return to this moment, but… oh, where were we at 7pm?" she wondered frustratedly, stamping her foot. But Remy had spotted something.

"Right there," she said, pointing over Hermione's shoulder to a spot on the hill over-looking Hagrid's hut. Visible were seven people: Harry, Remy, Hermione and Ron, approaching Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Precisely the way they had done several hours earlier.

"Wait a minute- Hermione; have we gone back in time?" Harry gasped.

"No, Harry. We can just see ourselves doing things we've already done," explained Remy cheerily.

"Ok, ok, _sorry _Miss Sarcasm."

Over where the _other _four of them were, Remy had just punched Malfoy in the face, sending a sickening crack echoing around the grounds. Hermione and Remy's laughter rang through the air as Malfoy ran towards them to cross the bridge.

"Hide!" Hermione hissed. They his behind a tree as Malfoy and his cronies rushed past.

"What so you think we're supposed to- _Remy? _What's wrong?" Hermione said sharply. Remy was clutching her head.

_Not again…_

_She was waiting eagerly, her spirit burning with anticipation… He, Pettigrew, the spy, was coming…she could sense it. At last, she would prevail. An indescribable sense of power swept over her. Happiness… glee… horrid, evil, twisted, greedy… glee. _

"Ah! No!" Remy cried, returning to earth abruptly.

"Remy, what is going on? You _always _do that, clutching your head and mumbling things then screaming…What's this all about?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"She can see visions, Hermione. Through Voldemort's eyes. She can sense his emotions and know if he's waiting for something, but mainly she just sees his memories. Other times she can see the future," explained Harry quickly. Her eyes widened.

"How do _you _know this?"

"Remy and I can read each other's minds. We've always been able to, and we don't know why- Remy, what was it?"

"Pettigrew… Voldemort knows he's escaped… Harry we can't let him escape! Sirius!" Remy choked out through her pain, clutching her head. Hermione was still gaping at them, trying to process this astonishing piece of information.

"Remy- you're not a _Seer _are you? You can see things in the future? Like that time in divination?"

Remy nodded. Hermione gasped.

"Brilliant! Remy- do you- do you think you would be able to tell us what we're supposed to do?" Hermione suggested tentatively. Remy nodded, and closed her eyes again.

_Concentrate, _Harry's soothing thought ran through her head.

_A pumpkin patch… Hagrid's hut… Buckbeak… the same scene again, Buckbeak gone-_

"You guys- Buckbeak! We were visiting Hagrid! We can save Buckbeak!" She said animatedly, beaming. Buckbeak could live! The other two's faces fell into expressions of realisation.

"Of course! More than one innocent life can be spared! It looks like we have ourselves a plan," said Hermione. "Remy- do you think you can do that again when we need it?" asked Hermione, who seemed to be in a frenzy of elation.

"I can try," said Remy, smiling wryly. Finally, her visions could come into use. Perhaps being like Trelawney wouldn't be so bad after all. They looked at each other.

"Well, come on!" urged Hermione, and they ran, stealthily and quietly, down towards the back of Hagrid's hut, hopefully to save the first innocent life. Hopefully.

**REVIEW ME!**

**love you all my readers,**

**xx**


	22. must not be seen,

**Wow, I just wrote this then. my fingers hurt. I hope you like it, or my brain will be hurting for nothing!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Remy. and the stone that she kicks later in the chapter :-)**

They nestled themselves behind Buckbeak, obscured by some ridiculously oversized pumpkins. Remy's heart was racing. They had to do this without being seen: It was absolutely crucial.

"Look, we're in Hagrid's hut, now," whispered Remy. Harry, Remy, Ron and Hermione could be seen taking seats at Hagrid's table, and consoling the heartbroken man. Buckbeak was lying peacefully in the pumpkin patch, grooming himself quietly and pleasantly, not disturbing a soul around him- Quite the way he had lived the majority of his life. Then a sharp pain ran through Remy's head-

_Fudge was staring at Buckbeak, listening to Dumbledore… they were going inside Hagrid's hut, and then Remy, Harry and Hermione raced forwards to untie Buckbeak… split seconds before their very own replicas raced out the back door.. Buckbeak was safe-_

Remy's eyes flew open-

"Remy? What did you see?"

She told them.

More minutes of anticipation passed- and at last, Dumbledore, Fudge and the executioner began their descent down the hill towards Hagrid's hut. The three of them froze up and looked at each other, wide eyed. They had pinpointed, using Remy's vision, the exact moment they would free Buckbeak: _After _the minister had seen him, so that Hagrid wouldn't receive the blame, and then just as the adults prepared to go inside, they would have to, very stealthily, untie him. This was it. The moment approached. But it didn't look like they were going to be able to do anything at the moment: They weren't leaving Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was bustling around the kitchen, getting Scabbers out of a box.

"_Pettigrew,_" muttered Harry and Remy poisonously. Remy's first instinct was to burst into Hagrid's hut and kidnap Scabbers, so that she and Harry would later be able to torture and kill him. But Hermione stopped her.

"No!" she hissed. "You'll go mad if you see yourself bursting into Hagrid's hut when you're already there!" This sentence took a long time for Remy's brain to administer. Harry wasn't even paying attention: he was glaring with intense ferocity at Scabbers, struggling to break free of Hermione's grasp on his T-shirt. Remy could almost see him barging into Hagrid's hut, pilfering Scabbers from Ron's hands and hurdling himself out the window, leaving the other Harry to stare after himself in confusion and conclude that he must have lost his mind.

"Harry, you _can't!_"

"Why not, Hermione? He killed my parents!"

"He framed my dad!"

"_Because Fudge and Dumbledore are almost here and we still haven't seen them!" _she said furiously. Without thinking, Remy grabbed a stone on the ground, loaded it into her slingshot and propelled it through the window at Harry's head.

"_Ouch!" _came Harry's faint cry, as the stone hit right on target. The real Harry rubbed his head in remembrance of this event and glared at Remy. It was a good thing the alternate-time-period-Harry's attention had been diverted to outside- because he hurriedly pointed out to Hagrid and the others that the Minister, the executioner and Dumbledore were approaching.

"And at long last, too," muttered Remy. Fudge had seen Buckbeak, and was now metres from the door: though he had stopped, for Dumbledore was talking to him animatedly about something completely irrelevant.

"_Quick!" _said Remy, leaping to her feet. She, Harry and Hermione edged carefully towards Buckbeak, and while Hermione attempted to allure him with some dead ferrets, Remy unlooped the chain from the post and coaxed him towards the trees. But the hippogriff wouldn't budge.

_Harry he doesn't like me, he's not coming! Talk to the stupid thing!_

"Come on Buckbeak, come on! Look, Hermione has a dead ferret! Wow! Come get it, Buckbeak!" Harry said encouragingly, as Hermione waved the dead ferret in his face. Fudge, Dumbledore and the executioner ad gone inside. And finally, with split seconds to lose, they lured Buckbeak back to the trees, where they hid from themselves, who had just run out the back of Hagrid's hut. And they waited. At last, their alternate-time-period doubles raced up to the hill to watch the would-be execution. Little did they know, no execution would happen today.

"Wow, I can't believe those jeans used to be blue," Remy marvelled, staring after herself, and then down at her own jeans, which were stained with mud and dirt, and were ripped and tattered. Then, Hermione gasped.

"What?"

"My hair looks _awful _from that angle!" she cried.

"Hermione!" Harry and Remy hissed, pulling her back behind the tree as their alternate-time-period doubles turned around quickly to see who had issued the noise.

Fudge, Dumbledore, the executioner and Hagrid stepped out of Hagrid's hut, Hagrid sobbing his poor heart out. They listened.

"Well Mc'Nair, we'd better get started- now wait just a second- where _is _the beast?" asked Fudge in outrage. "I've just seen him! I saw him, just before!" he was rubbing his glasses as though a small smudge was concealing Buckbeak from view. "Phenomenal…"

"He must've set 'imself free! Oh, he's a good boy… Oh, Beaky, you clever, clever hippogriff… Hagrid sobbed in joyous relief, while Fudge dithered around, unsure of what to say or do, and Dumbledore smiled on pleasantly.

"We must search for it! Search the grounds! Dumbledore, we must-" Fudge burbled incredulously.

"Search the _skies _if you like, minister. I doubt we'll ever find him! Now, personally, I am in favour of a glass of Brandy. What say you, Hagrid?"

"Certainly, professor Dumbledore. Yehself, Minister?"

"I- I- but the hippogriff-" Fudge rambled, looking around wildly as if he expected to see Buckbeak nestled comfortably on top of a tree. After much coaxing, he gave in, and stepped inside Hagrid's hut. Mc'Nair vented his feelings by beheading a pumpkin with his axe.

"Dottery old fool," Remy chortled, patting Buckbeak, who nipped her fingers ferociously.

"_Ouch!" _

Remy, Hermione and Harry watched intently from their hiding spot in the trees beside Hagrid's hut, as in the alternate universe, Sirius, as a dog, had just dragged Ron down into the heart of the Whomping willow.

"Well, now we just have to watch what happens and wait for the right moment," concluded Hermione, taking a seat under a tree. They had moved up through the thicket of trees slightly as to get a better view of who was surely to emerge from the whomping willow in around and hour, dragging a restless Buckbeak with them.

"This is so weird, watching it all happen again," said Harry breathlessly, as they watched themselves being attacked by the whomping willow.

A few minutes passed, during which they tried to relax a very confused Buckbeak, and Harry, Remy and Hermione had just watched themselves disappear down into the tree.

"Can you believe it's going on right now in this strange alternate universe? That we really still think my dad is guilty?" Remy said quietly, picking a leaf from the tree and fiddling with it absentmindedly.

"Yeah, that's weird. I wonder what we'll have to do to save Sirius?" wondered Harry. Then, a thought occurred to Remy, and she froze.

_Harry- what if we can stop Pettigrew from escaping? _she thought, her heart pumping fast.

"How?" said Harry aloud.

"'How' what?" asked Hermione suspiciously.

"Mind reading thing. Remy just thought to me that maybe we could stop Pettigrew from escaping," explained Harry.

"Oh," said Hermione. "I'm still not accustomed to the fact that you can read each other's minds- it's so… peculiar. How would you do that? Stop Pettigrew?"

"Well," said Remy, pausing to work it out, "When we all come out of the whomping willow, one of us could stun Pettigrew, allowing the _other _you, Hermione, to capture him when you're taken up to the castle," she said, barely able to contain her excitement. Harry looked as eager as she felt, but Hermione was looking unsure.

"I don't know, Remy. If we were going to do that, it would have already happened. You see, that's how time travel works. We've actually already done this," she said, gesturing to themselves and Buckbeak, "but we don't know it. An example, when that stone hit Harry in the head. It was really Remy. But you didn't know at the time, right, Harry? Neither did Remy. Because we hadn't gone back in time yet. But once we did, Remy's instinct was to throw that stone, and it impacted the past, too."

"My head hurts," said Harry, referring to both the lump on his head from the stone, and the mental trauma he was undergoing attempting to comprehend Hermione's explanation.

"Mine too,"

But Remy knew what she was saying. Everything they (the _real _they) were about to do had already happened, and impacted what they had been through that night. _Except _for freeing Sirius. That hadn't happened yet, in this world _or _the old one. At the second they had travelled back in time using the time turner, Sirius was still in the tower. There was still a possibility of him being rescued from it. And that's what they had come back to do.  
Remy made a note to herself NEVER to study time-travel.

So did that mean that because Pettigrew had gotten away, they hadn't managed to jinx him from afar last time, either? He was truly meant to escape? Was it inevitable?

"And Trelawney made a prophecy about it," murmured Harry.

"_What?" _Hermione and Remy exclaimed together. Harry, startled, began to explain that after the exam, Trelawney had prophesized the return of Pettigrew to Voldemort. He had not known what it had meant at the time.

...

"And the fact that you had a vision of it too, Rem, doesn't increase our chances," Harry finished gloomily.

"What if- what if the visions are subject to change?" suggested Remy recklessly, "What if we decide to defy what's been prophesised, and do the contrary? Knowing what has been foretold gives us the choice of following the path that's been set out for us, right? _Doesn't it?_" Remy tried desperately.

"I don't know, Remy, I just don't know. It's all so complicated… we're crossing theological and scientific boundaries now, and I'm scared," said Hermione uneasily. "We can't disrupt what's happening in the past for any reason except the mission we've set out to accomplish. Stunning Pettigrew might change _everything_, as we know we didn't do it before, and you never know- it might cause a chain reaction and we could all – I don't know, cease to exist! We have to be very careful, and abide by the laws! It's too risky, Rem."

"I'm going to try anyway," she said mutinously. Hermione sighed.

"Hermione, you don't understand. He ruined our lives. He's the reason my parents and Remy's mother are dead, and he took Sirius away, too. We've always thought there was nobody there for us. We never had parents. Because of him. Do you expect us to care about the laws of time travel when _he's _standing right there, and we have the ability to fix everything?" said Harry, backing Remy up, his voice shaking. Hermione looked tearful. Remy said nothing, hanging her head between her knees, deep in thought.

"Oh, Harry- Remy- of course I understand!" cried Hermione, her eyes sparkling with apologetic tears "I have no clue how you must be feeling, but I know you would want to kill him after all that. Try, and if it works, it works. If it doesn't, it wasn't meant to," she encouraged them, however half-heartedly. Harry managed a small, sad smile, and Remy ran her fingers through her hair.

"There's Lupin!" said Harry suddenly. Lupin had just prodded the knot on the tree with a large stick, and was creeping into the passageway.

"My invisibility cloak is at the base of the tree- I left it there when we went in after Ron… that's how Snape got in without us seeing. If only Lupin had grabbed it! Hey, maybe If _I _went and grabbed it, really quickly-"

"Harry you mustn't!" shrieked Hermione. "We can't be seen! It's very important!" Harry glared at her and sat back down. Just then, Hagrid stumbled over the hill just beyond his hut, in full view of the willow, swinging a bottle of alcohol back and forwards as he walked in his big hands. Buckbeak frantically tried to reach Hagrid.

"See what could have happened then, Harry?" said Hermione sternly. "We _must not be seen!" _Harry shrugged and Remy scowled.

It was growing darker. They could no longer see the sun, and had illuminated their wands to see their surroundings. Just then, Snape came bursting out of the castle doors, stormed down to the whomping willow, and prodded the knot just how Lupin had, using the same discarded tree branch.

"Let's stun him!" said Remy eagerly. "He'll never go down and stuff everything up- Sirius might be free-"

"Remy, no!!! we can't change anything except for rescuing Sirius from the tower! Dumbledore knows what he's doing!"

"_How can you stand this?"_

"It could mess everything up! Something might change down there! We have to let things happen the way they did!"

Remy sighed impatiently, as Snape's silhouette then bent down to grab Harry's cloak.

"Keep your filthy hands off it," hissed Harry and Remy at the same time, interpreting each other's thoughts involuntarily.

"Honestly, you two, Keep it down..." whispered Hermione. "Everyone's down there now. All we can do is wait."

And so they waited.

"You know, Sirius invited us to go and live with him," said Harry quietly to Hermione after a while.

"That's great!" Hermione said. Remy smiled wistfully, staring out at the moon. She would do anything to live with her father and Harry. It would be perfect. Everything would be as close to 'back to normal' as it could get. But what if Sirius couldn't be proved innocent? It would have all been a waste… They would go back to living their usual, orphaned lives. Black and Potter, parentless wonders.

"It'll just be us three. We'll finally have a life Harry, think about it… I think we should live somewhere far away… in the country, maybe, away from the city. He hasn't seen the world properly for twelve years," said Remy.

"Yeah," said Harry. "He deserves the best house money can buy. Hey, I wanted to tell you guys something. Before, when me, Remy and Sirius were down at the black lake with the dementors, these patronuses were cast from the other side of the lake, and saved us. Did you see them, Remy?"

"Yeah!" Remy piped up. Hermione looked confused.

"Who could that have been?"

"Well… I couldn't really see them clearly, because my vision was all blurry, and the patronuses were blocking them, but it wasn't a teacher…" Harry trailed off, looking nervous.

"I couldn't make them out, all I saw was a tall, thin blur," said Remy, shrugging.

"Who do you think it was, Harry?" asked Hermione tentatively.

"I think it was my dad," he said quietly.

Silence.

"Harry - your dad's - well, you know that your dad's dead…" Remy reminded him sheepishly.

"I know. I might be wrong, because everything was so blurry- but it looked like him."

"You think you saw his ghost?" asked Hermione, frowning.

"No, he was solid… I don't know. It's just what I saw." He said. His eyes were glazed over, as if he was somewhere else in spirit. Heck, he was probably sleep talking.

Remy was beginning to greatly doubt Harry's sanity. She raised an eyebrow at Hermione, who shrugged.

Suddenly- Remy's head gave a sharp stab of pain-

_She was waiting eagerly, her spirit burning with anticipation… He, Pettigrew, the spy, was coming…she could sense it. At last, she would prevail. An indescribable sense of power swept over her. Happiness… glee… horrid, evil, twisted, greedy… glee. _

"No!" she cried determinedly, waking up with a start and grasping her head in her hands. "That's… that's not going to happen," she panted, as Harry and Hermione looked horrified.

"Did you see it again, Remy?" asked Hermione cautiously, looking down at her, eyes wide with concern.

"Yes… Voldemort… knowing that Pettigrew is coming to him… he's escaped… but I'm not going to let that happen," she gasped, her head still spinning. Harry came into her fore vision.

"Guys, look!" he hissed, his eyes fixed on something afar. Dark shapes were all emerging from the whomping willow. They watched on in anticipation.

The clouds drifted apart in the sky, and the full moon emerged, bright, round and ghostly. Lupin had only taken a few steps- and his whole body became abruptly rigid, staring up at the moon, transfixed. He began to shake. Then Sirius' shouts for them to run cut through the air. Harry, Remy and Hermione could be seen being pushed off to the side, and Ron and Pettigrew were still chained to the rapidly transforming werewolf.

"Isn't it awful," whispered a trembling real Hermione, staring at poor Remus, whose nose and body were lengthening into those of the wolf he was beneath.

Then, the Black dog leapt out at the werewolf, biting him around the neck and dragging him away. Now, Pettigrew and Ron were chained together… This was it.

The real Remy's stomach did a back flip. She stepped forward slightly from their hiding spot, and rushed, still hidden by shadows and tree, to a spot closer to the scene.

"Remy! Wait! Come back!" cried Hermione in despair. She heard their footsteps behind her. Poking her head through the bushes, Remy aimed her wand determinedly at Pettigrew, who was now being held captive by Remy, in a fierce grip. This was it. Pettigrew had Lupin's wand. She took aim:

"_Stupefy!" _she hissed, but there had already been a burst of light from where Pettigrew stood. Remy's jinx flew rapidly towards the scene, missed Hermione by inches, then knocked Ron to the floor… Pettigrew, having used the wand on himself, was quickly shrinking into a rat, and before Remy knew it, scuttling away… again…

"No!" Remy cried. "I am such an idiot! I missed!" she cursed herself, clutching her hair in despair and kicking a rock on the ground. Harry put an arm around her waist.

"So that's how Ron became spontaneously unconscious…It's ok… It was prophesised, Remy, it couldn't have been prevented… it's fate… we couldn't change it, it's _not _your fault," he assured her.

"It is, it is! Oh, god, why am I such a reckless idiot?" she mumbled. He had gotten away… again. Pettigrew was long gone.

"I love you that way," said Harry. Then Remy and Hermione both seemed to realise something. Hermione gasped.

"Will you love me dead? Because Remus is about to run into the forest and kill us all," Remy said in alarm, grabbing both of them and running, with Harry dragging Buckbeak, through the forest and as far away from the werewolf as possible… they heard him howling behind them as he ventured further into the forest…

"Come on!" Hermione shrieked.

They stopped at Hagrid's hut. "Let's wait here," panted Hermione, "Until it's time."

"That was close," gasped Harry.

"But, Hermione, if we can't see what's going on, we won't know when to rescue Sirius!" said Remy frenziedly.

"Oh, fine! You two go and keep a look out- don't interfere- and meet me back here when it's time," she instructed carefully.

Harry and Remy ran down to the other side of the Black lake, opposite where Sirius was soon to be… then, sure enough, a dark shape toppled down from the opposite bank… a black dog…and then Sirius was lying sprawled on the ground, bleeding and unconscious. Remy whimpered.

_It's alright. He'll be saved. I promise, _Harry thought to her. Then, they saw themselves running down to Sirius's rescue- and the cold, eerie chill associated with dementors descended on them again. It was even more terrifying from where they stood.

Dementors swarmed in from every direction- swooping down menacingly, scaly hands protruding, faces hooded in darkness… they were making for Sirius like flies for a horse. Desperate. The other Harry and Remy had began to cast their feeble patronuses wildly at them, holding them off fleetingly… but the dementors were winning. It was horrible. The dementors were sucking the life from them, and they were slowly faltering and falling, frail and helpless, to their knees…Remy's heart was thumping fast: Shouldn't their mystery saviours be appearing right now?

_Harry… we're _dying. _When are they going to come? _Remy thought frantically.

_They'll come… My dad will come, you'll see, _Harry thought back resolutely. But nobody was coming.

Remy's head throbbed, and the images flashed past at the speed of light…

_Harry and Remy, wands extended, driving away dementors… two, bright, fully-fledged patronuses-_

She wrenched her eyes open and turned to look at Harry.

_Harry, they're already here, _she thought.

Harry's eyes widened in realisation. They stared at each other for a moment.

_Of course!_

They nodded, and stepped out quickly onto a protruding piece of rock, and aimed their wands across the lake. How could she think of something happy at a time like this? Harry took her free hand with his.

_We're going to live with Sirius. We'll be together again. Just us three. He's innocent. _

_But…Pettigrew…we'll be all alone again, no Sirius…_

_It doesn't matter about Pettigrew. We're still here together, trying. If there's no one left, we'll still be together. You and me. I'll never leave you. Ever._

And with that…

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" _they shouted together-

Then, without warning, a feeling Remy had never felt in her life swept through her. It was like an electric current, surging from her entire being into her fingertips. And when the lights burst from Harry and Remy's wands, they connected and brightened, fusing as one light to shine brighter than anything they had seen before. The forces of their wands combined- and what erupted from the giant orb of light were not feeble, weak patronuses. No. First burst Harry's giant, glowing, silver stag. The stag galloped alongside Remy's giant, elegant glowing dog, silently away across the lake, and towards themselves and Sirius, charging away dementors as they went. The patronuses forced the skeletal creatures out of their path effortlessly, and began circling the dark shapes on the ground that were Harry, Remy and Sirius.

The dementors, repelled by the light, scattered backwards and withdrew from the scene, apparently unable to stand the brightness. They were gone. As the stag and dog returned gracefully to their owners, Harry and Remy realised that they had saved themselves. It hadn't been James that Harry saw across the lake. It had been Harry and Remy.

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**It was really hard to put Remy in that scene with the patronus and everything.**

**sorry to all you people who wanted them to catch Pettigrew. However- there is hope. I have far from abandoned the possibility of Peter Pettigrew being caught, proving Sirius innocent, in a sequel.**

**Review me!**


	23. We did it!

**Hi people. Trying to update as quick as I can (I hope my expedience doesn't affect the quality of my story :-S)!!**

**I would like to thank a person called Merrit who reviewed me on my last chapter- thankyou! your review made my day! **

**P.S- one more chapter to go!**

**xx- dedicated to Phantom and Livvy**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling rules the earth.**

"_What did you two do?_" Hermione's voice shot from behind Harry and Remy, breaking their amazed silence. "You said you _weren't_ going to interfere! What was _that-?"_

"It's ok, Hermione, we just saved our lives! It was us all along! _We _were the people we saw across the lake! We were meant to do the patronuses!" explained Harry breathlessly, "We saw ourselves!" Remy suddenly rubbed her head in confusion, trying to get her head around this strange statement. Hermione's jaw dropped.

"_You _performed those patronuses, then?"

"Yeah!" said Remy. "Don't worry, we didn't see us," she re-assured Hermione (hoping it made sense).

"Ok, but- _Look at Snape!_" Hermione gasped, pointing across the lake. Snape had ventured down to the black lake, and was hurriedly conjuring up stretchers to place Remy, Harry and Sirius on. One was already floating beside him, carrying Ron.

"Oops… sorry, Ron," Remy whispered sheepishly. Hermione dragged them behind a clump of bushes in a fit of paranoia.

"Hang on Hermione- where are _you_?" Remy asked her, squinting to get a better look at the scene.

"Snape made me go back up to the castle and wait for you all to arrive in the hospital wing. When he got there he said I had been confunded like the rest of you by Sirius. I tried to argue, but Madame Pomfrey just shoved some chocolate in my mouth and lay me down on a bed to rest next to you three," she explained angrily. "Sirius wasn't with him when he arrived, obviously."

"Hermione- can we _please _stun Snape? Everything will be ok!" Remy looked like a dog, begging for a treat.

"No, Remy, I've _told _you, we can't. He might see us, and up at the castle they'll just think it was Sirius. Just wait, and we'll rescue him," she said kindly. Remy sighed.

Snape made his way back up to the castle, accompanied by four stretchers. They waited for 45 minutes. Then, finally, staring intently up at the castle, they saw Fudge emerge and begin to call the dementors. Remy's heart froze. Her throat seemed to close up with fear.

"You guys! He's getting the dementors! They're going to perform the kiss! _This is it!_" Remy said hoarsely. They all sprang to their feet. Harry helped Hermione and Remy onto Buckbeak, and he then heaved himself up onto the great beast using a tree as a leg up. They didn't take up much space, and Sirius would surely fit on the back.

"Go, Buckbeak!" Harry hissed, and patted his feathers encouragingly. Buckbeak lowered his head, took a great, mighty run, and took of into the sky, wings beating slowly and powerfully. The wind flapped in their ears as they flew. Harry was on the front, then Hermione, then Remy. Hermione sat inbetween them because she was rather frightened of flying.

"YEAH!!!! _This is so much fun_! Harry, this is awesome!" Remy shouted over the sound of Buckbeak's wings. Her head was raised in the air, and she let the wind tousle her hair. Hermione was brething shallowly.

"Harry- Harry, I don't like this at all – HARRY!" she screamed, as Harry took a dive towards the tower. He and Remy laughed. They pulled in at the north tower, on the very point of which was a rusty old cell, in between two rooms. Inside sat Sirius, hunched over in the shadows, looking miserable. His face, however, lit up in alarm at the sight of them. They climbed off Buckbeak and ran to the door.

"How in the name of-?" he wondered weakly, but Remy and Hermione cut him off.

"_Reducto!" _said Remy. The door blew apart

"_Accio,_" finished Hermione, pulling away the remenants of the door. He got up and walked quickly to them.

"Remy- Harry-"

"There's no time, Sirius," said Remy hurriedly. "Fudge is coming with the dementors- you need to get on Buckbeak and get out of here," she said, her throat constricting. She really didn't want to say goodbye. Before he climbed onto Buckbeak's back, he took her hands and spoke to her.

"I will miss you, so much. You truly are more wonderful than I ever could have imagined. One thing I forgot to tell you- they key was from me, use it to open _that_," he said, gesturing towards the locket around her neck. She smiled up at him.

"Bye," she said, hugging him briefly. He moved on to hug Harry.

"Goodbye, Harry. You truly are your father's son," he said to him, before climbing on to Buckbeak.

"Thankyou, all three of you, you have no idea how much this means-"

"GO!" they cried, and with a nod, he set off into the sky… they watched as he and Buckbeak slowly disappeared into the clouds.

--

"Come on! We have to hurry- it's nearly nine thirty!" Hermione shrieked, making them jump, and they all rushed into one of the classrooms beside the cell. They then sped out the classroomdoor and into the North Tower, taking the staircase. Then, sprinting as though their lives depended on it (which they very well could have), they made it to the other side of the school, and burst into the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore was standing there expectantly.

"And?" he asked, smiling.

"We did it!" gasped Harry, grinning.

"Did what?" he enquired, looking politely bewildered. His eyes twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles. "Goodnight," he said pleasantly, walking out and closing the door behind him. Ron was still asleep. They quickly climbed back into their beds, pretending to be asleep. Five minutes passed, in which Harry reached across and took Remy's hand, so that their hands hung inbetween their beds.

_Told you it'd be ok, _he thought.

_Yeah. I wish he was free, though. He has to be on the run now. _Remy thought miserably.

_He'll keep in touch. Don't worry. What was that he was saying to you about the necklace? _He asked gently.

_I was found with this thing on, I've never known where it came from. It's just… always been around my neck, I guess. Never opened it, never could. But now- Sirius sent me the key, Harry. How could I have been so stupid? Why didn't I try the mysterious key I received for Christmas on the necklace?I do wonder what's inside. The key's in my trunk. I'll open it the second we go up there, _she thought determinedly.

_If you want to, will you show me?_

_Of course I'll show you. Thankyou, for everything, Harry. For helping. I finally have a dad, you know. And you have a godfather. Maybe someday we can all live together, in a big house…when we catch Pettigrew. _Remy thought wistfully.

_That would be fantastic._

Silence.

_Remy?_

_Yeah?_

_Do you still…you know... like that Scott guy? Or was it Edward?_

Pause.

_No. I don't like them. How could I? I'm… sort of in love with Harry._

_Good, because he's sort of in love with you, too. _

The doors burst open, and their hands broke apart.

"He must have apparated, Snape, please calm down-" stuttered Fudge, but-

"BLACK AND POTTER!" screamed a horrible, dangerous voice. Harry sat bolt upright. Remy slowly rose to a sitting position, rubbing her eyes. Snape was striding towards them, looking strangely deformed in his anger.

"Hello, Professor Snape. I see you're feeling cheerful today, whatever is the matter?" she asked happily

"SHUT UP! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT, BLACK! HE'S GONE! BLACK'S GONE! WHAT DID YOU TWO CONCEITED LITTLE BRATS DO?!" he demanded, his face contorted with rage.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded a furious Madam Pomfrey, emerging from her office.

"BLACK- HE'S GONE! THESE TWO DELINQUENTS HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!" screamed Snape.

"Oh yeah, because we've had _so_ much time to get from here to where Black was being held, a place we don't actually know the location of-"

"SILENCE! DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME, BLACK!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Severus- Remy and Harry have been here, in bed, this entire time! They couldn't have left, I've been watching them, I healed them for confundment, just before you left!" she explained, bewildered.

"What is all this ruckus?" Dumbledore asked politely, drifting once again into the ward.

"Headmaster- Black has escaped! He's gone! These- two- _Black and Potter- _they helped him! I know it!" Snape insisted, turning to face Dumbledore.

"Why on earth would we help Black?" Harry shot at Snape, spitting out 'Black' like it was a terrible swear-word.

"BECAUSE YOU WANTED HIM TO ESCAPE! YOU BELIEVED HIM INNOCENT!"

"_What?_ We did? Oh- that was when we were _confunded, _professor. Remember? Hang on- we _were_ confunded, weren't we?" Remy asked, frowning and tilting her head to the side in curiosity. Her smiling eyes flickered over to Harry as she spoke. His mouth twitched.

"YES," Snape shouted. "BUT YOU SET HIM FREE WHEN YOU WERE CONFUNDED!"

"I find it hard to imagine how Remy or Harry could have managed to escape the hospital wing, make it all the way up to the north tower and free Black under such _severe _confundment, as you put it earlier, Severus, _and _in such a short space of five minutes," said Dumbledore gravely. Snape looked like he was about to foam at the mouth.

"_I'LL FIND OUT HOW YOU DID IT, MARK MY WORDS, BLACK AND POTTER!_" He screamed, and then proceeded to storm out of the hospital wing. Remy and Harry lokoed at each other, very tempted to laugh.

A shocked silence.

"Is he going to embark on a futile murderous rampage and kill everyone in sight? Because I think I'll stay here," said Remy quickly, lying back down.

"Me too. I mean- almost being killed twice in one day would be a bit much, wouldn't it," deduced Harry, following suit. Hermione, who had been sitting there listening, along with Dumbleodre and Madam Pomfrey, laughed.

"It's good to have the two of you back," said madam Pomfrey unconvincingly, bustling back into her office.

"Well, I'll get the dementors searching for Black immediately- I'll notify you of his whereabouts when I am notified myself, Dumbledore. Good day," Fudge said, sighing, and leaving the room.

***

As soon as they were permitted to leave the hospital wing, Remy raced straight upstairs to find the key and open her locket. Her fingers were positively trembling with excitement. After 13 years: what was inside her locket? She fumbled through the contents of her trunk- and there it was. Small, gold and shiny, the key was a perfect fit.

"Idiot, Remy, why didn't you think of it before?" she said to herself, grinning with anticipation. She gently, for the first time ever, removed the locket from around her neck. It had never faded, discoloured or rusted. It was a pure gem. She placed the key into the tiny keyhole at the back- and the oval popped open. Immediately, a small, folded piece of paper fell out into her hands. It was tiny, it couldn't have been any bigger than the locket itself. But as she unfolded it- once, twice, three times, much more than the humanly possible seven times, twenty times, thirty times- it turned out to be a decent sized piece of paper, magically reduced in size to fit inside the locket. She read the letter:

_31. Oct. 1981_

_Remy-_

_I have very little time to write this. I enclose it in your mother's necklace. Keep it safe. If you are reading this letter, I am either dead or in prison, as you have been sent the key. I hope this will not be so, but the chances of my liberated survival are slim. I intend to rip this letter to shreds if I ever return to this house- our house- I am leaving you in. Terrible things have happened tonight. You have lost your mother, and Harry, your closest friend and the son of my own closest friend, has been orphaned. I am to blame, and nobody will believe my innocence. So I am left with no choice but to attempt to avenge my beautiful wife and best friends, as there is very little chance of me being believed or freed. I am so sorry for everything that has gone on tonight. I hate to leave you alone in your tragedy-struck world. You will grow up, perhaps hating me, or perhaps not even knowing of me. This is fair enough. You will not know of my innocence, and nor will the world. But whichever way you see me, I hope you are being treated with utmost love and care, and I hope you are as happy as you can possibly be. Your mother and I both love you so much. More than anything in this world. Even though we may be gone to you, never forget this fact. I hope with all of my heart that we will meet again. If not, I will miss you._

Sirius had signed his love and his name at the bottom of the page. She had been just a year old at the time. Remy looked up from the letter, her heart pounding. This was proof, that somehow, in another time, Remy had existed. She had been a child. She had had parents. And they had loved her. And one still did. And by some strange miracle, Sirius was alive today, and she knew him. For the first time in her life.

She and Harry had a second chance. Picking up the locket again, Remy saw that inside was a minute picture of her parents, smiling lovingly at eachother, facing eachother like nothing could ever break them apart. It was beautiful. She returned the lockets contents, feeling dazed. She raced down to the common rom to find Harry.

***

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**Sweet, hey?**

**or corny?or terrible?**

**or good?**

**let me know what you think in a review, no flames. (although the lengths people go to to humiliate people are rather amusing.)**

**Please review!**

**xxxxxx**


	24. The revealing & appreciated explanation

**I could give you the whole chapter, but... nah. I want to be mean. So I split it in half. I hope my meanness doesn't offend you, though that's usually what meanness does... oh well. **

**I'll post the very last chapter very soon, promise.**

**Enjoy! Oh, and I hope this clears up all of your questions, if there was any confusion about H+R (that's Harry and Remy, not Hermione and Ron). **

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"Hello there, Remy," said Remus pleasantly, looking up from the process of packing books and shoes away into a suitcase in his office. He looked exhausted. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok, what about you? Hang on- Uncle Remus- Why are you packing?" she asked quietly, fearing the answer.

"I'm afraid I can no longer teach here," he said sadly.

"_What? _Why? Is it because- Oh," she said dismally. He was nodding.

"Professor Snape, erm, accidentally let it slip that I am a werewolf. To his students this morning, in class."

"That prick!" she shouted in outrage. "Why did he do that? Surely Dumbledore-"

"Dumbledore will not appreciate letters from angry parents, complaining about someone like _me_ teaching their students," he said bitterly. Remy felt immediately sorry for him.

"Don't say it like that," Remy said gently. "There's nothing wrong with you. It's beyond your control."

He gave a humourless laugh.

"Thankyou, Remy. I appreciate that you think that. But unfortunately, the majority of the Wizarding world isn't quite as understanding as you," he said sadly. "And besides- if I were to slip up again and forget to take my potion, the results could be fatal. I wouldn't risk it. I guess I'll have to find myself another job."

"I'll help you find one," she said automatically. He turned and smiled at her.

"You know, underneath the sarcasm and the rebelliousness, you're a really sweet kid," he said, raising his eyebrows as if this came as a shock to him. She grinned, but her grin faded when she remembered what he had just told her: He would no longer be there with her at Hogwarts. He was leaving, because Snape the slimy, repulsive git had opened his snide mouth. Just then, Harry walked in the door.

"Here you are, Rem. I detect a forlorn atmosphere, what's going on?" he asked, frowning. "Professor Lupin- where are you going?" he asked puzzledly. Remus sighed.

"I have to leave."

"You've been _fired?_ But-"

"No, I resigned."

"_Why?"_

"Snape blabbed. Werewolf teaching students. Complicated," said Remy simply. Harry looked angry.

"That prick!" he shouted in outrage.

"That's what Remy said," Remus pointed out.

"But sir- you're the best teacher we've ever had!" Harry insisted. Remy nodded in agreement.

"Thankyou, Harry. But I am afraid I have no choice but to leave you. Ah- and, Harry, here- I brought this back from the shrieking shack last night," he added, handing Harry the invisibility cloak. "And as I am no longer your teacher, I feel no guilt in giving this back to you both," he said with a smile, handing them the marauders map. They beamed at him as they took it with a hand each.

"I daresay James and Sirius would be very disappointed if their son and daughter never found any of the secret passageways into Hogsmeade," he said, eyeing them furtively. Remy could have bet her firebolt that he knew very well about Harry and Remy's secret escapades in to Hogsmeade, and grinned at Harry. "Be careful, though- Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs would find it extremely funny to lure you out of the school," he said with a reminiscent smile.

"Guess what uncle Remus- we can perform corporeal patronuses now!" said Remy excitedly, very off-topic, but not entirely.

"Both of you?" he marvelled. They told him about their patronuses- leaving out the odd fact that their wands had connected.

"Remarkable…" he said. "James's patronus was also a stag, Harry. He was a stag when he transformed. We called him Prongs. And Remy- your father's was a dog. He was nicknamed Padfoot. That's incredible," he mumbled, smiling at them. "You are both so extraordinarily like your fathers."

"Damn right Sirius is a dog, he scared the living daylights out of us!" said Remy, catching Harry's eye and remembering the time the black dog had frightened them in the grounds.

_By the way, Harry, I got a letter from Sirius this morning, addressed to both of us. I'll show it to you later- but it turns out it was him who sent the brooms. Hermione was right! _Remy thought to Harry through the silence, remembering this fact suddenly.

_Wow, really? Oops, I suppose we should appologise, shouldn't we, _thought Harry sheepishly.

Then, there was a knock at the door, and in came Dumbledore. Remy stuffed the map into her pocket, and Harry did the same with the cloak.

"Hello, professor Dumbledore," said Remus cheerfully.

"Hello, Remus, Mr. Potter, Miss Black. Remus, your coach awaits you at the gate, I am sad to say," he said politely. "Have a safe trip."

"Thankyou, sir. Harry, I expect we will meet again someday soon. See you at Kings Cross, Rem."

"Goodbye, Remus," said Dumbledore kindly.

"Bye Professor," said Harry. He looked rather dejected.

"Ciao," said Remy. And he left.

...

"Well!" said Dumbledore, pacing across to the other side of the room. "It appears you two, with the help of your friends, have yet again saved the day. Is there anything troubling you?" he asked, eyes sparkling with a secret knowing that always perplexed Remy. Harry was silent.

"Sir," said Remy. Dumbledore smiled encouragingly, "After all that- Sirius isn't free," she said glumly. "I'm starting to think it didn't make much of a difference."

He looked at her curiously. "No difference? You saved an innocent man from a terrible fate! Now, even if there are only few of us, we know the truth. Your father never committed the crimes we all thought he did."

"We thought we would get to go and live with him. Will he ever be free?" said Hary quietly.

"We can only hope. Wormtail- or Peter Pettigrew, rather- is, no doubt, planning to revive Lord Voldemort as we speak. It is a shame that there is nothing we can do. But- I do sense that there is something else on your minds. Am I correct?"

Harry and Remy looked at each other.

_Patronuses, _Remy thought.

_Trelawney's prediction, _thought Harry.

"Sir- when I was in the divination exam, professor Trelawney- her voice went all weird, and she said some strange things, like- The servant of Voldemort would return to him tonight, and the Dark Lord would rise again, and connections dangerous to the dark lord would be discovered…" Harry explained.

"It seems professor Trelawney has made her second, real prediction!" said Dumbledore cheerfully. "I should give her a payrise…"

"But- Sir, that means it's my fault that Pettigrew escaped! I stopped Sirius and Lupin from killing him!" Harry shouted in despair.

"No, it doesn't. James would have saved Peter Pettigrew too, I am sure of it. The fact that you saved his life created a bond between you, one you will be very grateful for in the future," Dumbledore said, as Harry made to protest at the thought of having a bond with Pettigrew. "And if there is one thing I know about time travel, is that it makes the business of Seeing the future a very complicated one indeed. Pettigrew's escape could not have been prevented."

"It's not your fault, Harry, it's mine. I Saw Pettigrew escaping and joining Voldemort, so I was desperate to stop him- and when I tried to stun him through that hedge, I missed, so it's _my _fault-" stumbled Remy, before relising she had blurted out something she hadn't meant to. Seeing Pettigrew escape. Dumbledore seemed to pick up on this.

"Remy, my dear- how on earth did _you _know that Pettigrew was to join Voldemort?" he asked, head cocked to one side in curiosity. She looked at Harry.

_Should I?_

_He's Dumbledore, Remy, just tell him, _Harry assured her.

"Sir, lately I've been seeing really odd… visions, you could call them. I see them through Voldemort's eyes. I think they're from the past, because I see really- really bad things like him killing my mum, and- other people, but sometimes they predict the future, like Pettigrew returning to Voldemort. That was yesterday. And other visions are irrelevant to Voldemort, in which I can predict what's going to happen- like when we were saving Buckbeak, I had a vision of when we would have to untie him, and some other stuff like that," she finished awkwardly.

"How often do these occur?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well, sir, the Voldemort ones started when I was eleven. When we first found out that…" Remy trailed off, catching Harry's eye. He nodded in encouragement. "When I first met Harry on the Hogwarts express, and we discovered that we could read each other's minds," she finished steadily. "But I've always had little, insignificant premonitions, just about everyday life," she added.

"You can read each other's minds? How… peculiar," he said, fascinated. "Tell me- are these visions of yours linked at all to your mind connection with Harry?"

Remy paused momentarily, and then spoke.

"Yes, sir. When I'm close to Harry, and we're in regular mind contact, I see loads and loads of horrid visions- but when we're not speaking, or apart, like in the summer holidays, I See nothing but the occasional sandwich contents prediction. I never really linked it all before. And we've never known why we can read each other's minds."

Dumbledore surveyed them both carefully.

"Somehow I always knew… Harry, Remy, it seems to me, that Miss Black is a Seer." Remy looked dismayed. "A _proper _seer," he added. "And you See things whether you are with Harry or not. But when you _are _with Harry, you have access to his mind." They nodded in confirmation. "I am guessing that the visions you see in which you are Voldemort are triggered by Harry. This is because, though I may be wrong, Harry's mind holds some of Voldemort's most murderous memories."

Harry looked panicked, and Remy alarmed.

"This is nothing to fear. It appears, Harry, that when Voldemort gave you that scar, as I told you in first year, some of his powers and memories were transmitted to you. You are unable to view these memories, but the Seer who is mentally connected with you, Remy, can."

There was a stunned silence.

"So I'm seeing his memories through Harry…" Remy mumbled.

"Sir, why are we connected?" Harry asked. "When we cast the patronuses to save ourselves across the lake- our wands sort of- connected, and we thought things to each other, then we produced corporeal patronuses. Could that have something to do with the connection?" Dumbledore smiled and clapped his hands.

"That is an explanation I must offer you at another date. But I can explain to you this: It was in fact predicted that you would share this mind reading power. You possess two different beings, hearts and minds, but when you are together, your soul combines to one, giving insight into eachother's minds. You are connected in a very powerful way, and I advise you use your connection wisely. It is not to be avoided." He said wisely. Remy looked at Harry.

_Not to be avoided, eh? I think we can handle being near each other, don't you? _She thought sarcastically. Harry nodded.

_Definitely._

Although strange to nod halfway through complete silence, Dumbledore didn't question Harry's behaviour.

"Also, sir, when Remy, Sirius and I fainted, I could have sworn I saw my dad casting the patronus across the lake. But it turns out it was only me I was seeing. Why do you think I saw him? because it looked so much like him…" Harry told the Headmaster.

"An easy mistake to make. You are very alike. But I think you did see him when you stared across that lake, Harry. You found him in yourself," said Dumbledore cryptically, patting Harry on the shoulder, then sweeping out of the room.

There was a perplexed silence.

"What a nutter," said Remy fondly.

***

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**Next chapter soon, I promise. I just wanted this explanation to be seperate.**

**Ciao!**

**xx**

**REVIEW OR I WILL EMBARK ON A MURDEROUS RAMPAGE AND KILL YOU ALL!!**

**MWAHAHAHAHAA**


	25. THE END

**The End. *Sniff Sniff* **

**The close of this story is a sad occasion for me, as I have been working on it for a long time. Heck, it's what kept me sane for a year. What'll I do now it's over?**

**I know! I'll write a sequel! It won't be up for quite a long time, so I hope you don't all forget I exist, hence my sequel never being read... god forbid!**

**Enjoy the last chapter. I must now bid you farewell. It's been a pleasure receiving your reviews and getting to know some new fantastic authors and their work. :-)**

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_He prowled the dark street… decorations of skeletons, pumpkins, witches, wizards and vampires overflowed the windows of many houses, and sweet wrappers lay strewn across the street. Artificial cobwebs had plastered themselves to trees in the rain, and pumpkin candles were full to the brim with rainwater, long extinguished. Halloween. He drifted along under his dark cape, a great sense of anticipation rising in him. Tonight was the night. Many people eagerly awaited Halloween, but none more than he and or for such a specific reason. At last, he reached the small, cosy brick house on the main street of godric's hollow… The man of the Black household was sure to be out. The one they all suspected for betraying the dear sweet Potters. If only they knew. He found this cruelly humorous for some reason. As he approached the Black household, he laughed a silent mirthless laugh. No matter how hard the Blacks had tried to protect the Potters, their efforts were in vain. Just as he thought this, the front door of the house flew open, and out ran a tall blonde woman, her fierce expression concealing her likely fear. _

"_You!" she yelled, drawing her wand. She strode bravely over to face him, trembling, blocking his path. This amused him. "You'll never kill Lily and James. You won't touch a hair on their son's head, or anybody I love," the woman said shakily but determinedly, glaring with her wand pointed directly at him. So this was Black's wife._

"_Move out of the way, you bold fool. This does not concern you," he said, delecting the power that this command brought him._

"Never," _she hissed. "I won't let you harm my friends."_

"_I'll kill them whether you like it or not," he said silkily, keeping a steady hold on her own wand. _

"_Over my dead body!" she screamed, yielding her wand, ready to strike._

"_As you wish," he said coldly, smirking. "_Avada Kedavra,_" he uttered the curse in the blink of an eye, sweeping his arm back as he waved his wand. There was a scream, and a familiar flash of blinding green, and Louisa Black was gone, her eyes cold and lifeless like so many other of his victims. Her cold face brought him a thrill of supremacy. He peered inside fleetingly. Black's child lay within. But it would be pointless to kill her. She wasn't in his way, and she wasn't the one he sought. He swept away from the house, cloak billowing behind him. The Potter house was much further down the street. When he had nearly reached it, he heard very distant footsteps behind him, which stopped abruptly. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the remote silhouette of a man, falling to his knees just outside the Black residence. The man was sobbing quietly now. But _he, _whoever Remy was in this bizarre world,_ _didn't care. Let them think Black guilty. At least he, himself would have a servant if that particular servant kept well hidden. _

_His goal lay not far ahead now. The house drew nearer. The silhouette of a woman, her husband and child could be seen against the bright light of the house's second storey window. This was it. He felt as though a drum roll were silently conducting itself in his chest. He opened the front gate and walked along the path to the front door, lightning struck overhead. He kept his hood on, smiling a wicked, vindictive smile. The people in the window froze, and them man looked through the window into the dark, stormy obscurity that was outside. Remy suddenly grasped a fraction of consciousness. She saw her hand, the man's long, white hand, draw a wand, and-_

_CRASH. The door flew back, revealing the interior. She stepped into the hallway, and a voice of panic shouted out from above:_

"_LILY, IT'S HIM! I'll hold him off- TAKE HARRY AND RUN-"_

Remy awoke, breathing heavily, tears prickling in her eyes. No, she told herself. She would _not _succumb to tears. She knew very well what happened next in the vision. Too well. So that's what had happened that fateful Halloween. Her mother's death flashed behind her eyelids, wrenching at her heart. Seeing things through Voldemort's eyes, though a traumatic experience in itself, could only be worsened by witnessing the death of a loved one. Remy felt a lump rise in her throat. She couldn't push the images out of her head. And Sirius had arrived at the house just minutes after she had been killed… Perhaps if he had come home a mere ten miutes earlier- No, she wasn't going to think about that. She couldn't. Besides, maybe if Sirius had arrived home earlier, he would have been killed too, along with Remy herself. There were too many 'what if 's rushing around in mad circles in her head. Too many to consider, even with a straight thinking head.

Remy rolled over to find it was seven-thirty on the morning. She still hadn't caught her breath- the shock had caused her heart to race. She was all in a daze. Everyone was still in bed, as it was a Saturday. Disorientedly, she rose and tiptoed down into the common room. Harry was there, sitting in an armchair.

"Hey," he said gently, turning around in his chair. His expression formed into one of alarm on seeing her. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Remy stood there silently, still trembling. She sat down in the chair beside him and told him everything, in a quiet, shaking, haunted voice. And that meant _everything_. Even that she had seen Lily once.

"Harry- it was so scary," she finished shakily, hugging her knees. Harry looked like he didn't know what to do. He took her hand and she continued to stare into the fire, ghastly pale.

"Hey- you never showed me that photo of your mum and dad," he said gently, trying to distract her. She looked up at him with her dark grey eyes and smiled sadly. She opened the locket with the key from her pocket **(A/N- I should be a poet!)**, and handed him the tiny photograph of her parents. His eyes widened.

"They look so happy," he said quietly. Remy nodded. "You do know you look exactly like Sirius, right?" he laughed, examining the photo. "Especially your eyes. It's rather scary."

"Nice to know we frighten you so," said Remy, trying not to laugh. "I have a photo of your parents, you know," said Remy, "in a photo album at Uncle Remus's house. You look so much like your dad.".

"I know," he said quietly, a proud smile illuminating his face.

"But you have Lily's eyes."

"So I've been told," he said, grinning at her. Most people he met told him that.

There was a reminiscent silence, in which Remy placed the photo back in its home with trembling fingers.

"I didn't want to see any of it…" she said abruptly, being reminded of Lily Potter again. "I tried to wake up from the vision the time I saw your mum- Harry, I'm really sorry," she finished desperately, looking at him with wide eyes. He looked perplexed.

"_Sorry_?" he said furiously. She jumped in fright. "Why are you sorry? You couldn't help it! How is any of it your fault? If anyone's it's mine," he said dejectedly.

"_Your _fault? You're not the one seeing the visions of our families being killed, Harry!" she hissed, so nobody would overhear. He looked at her, still amazed.

"Remy, I'm the one who makes you see them! You heard Dumbledore. When I get close to you- when we are close- they're worse for you. I'm causing all this trouble for you. And when we're distant, you're fine. You're normal."

"Hey- I'm normal!" she cried in mock indignation. Harry's mouth twitched.

"Remy, be serious. When we're apart, there's no visions," he said forcefully. "I should probably stay away- I don't want to put you through all of that. But I can't. I can't stay away from you, or be mad at you," he said hopelessly, staring into her eyes. "I don't know what to do."

"When we're distant, it's only the Voldemort visions that go away. I can still predict things. But all of those horrible, disturbing ones- they're worth it, Harry, if I can be with you," she said honestly, staring back at him. "I can handle them," she assured him.

"It doesn't seem like you can," he said quietly. She continued to look at him fiercely.

"Harry, when we're not in the same place- in the same town, at least- I feel so lonely. Like my head's empty. _Empty,_ Harry. I'm so used to your voice being there, it's eerie without it. Which do you think I would rather? Having you, or having my visions go away?" she asked him. He looked down.

"I feel the same way when you're not with me. When we met, it was like we'd never been apart. Like relief, when I first heard you in my head. And when we weren't speaking before- it was like someone had split me in half," he said, defeated, smiling at her crookedly. He knew there was no getting past her on this matter: she wouldn't allow him to sacrifice what they had just for her luxury. "The only way I'm really happy is with you."

Remy grinned lopsidedly and looked at him. "That's right. We're Black and Potter. Proud kids of the infamous marauders."

"You want one?" Harry laughed, "You've got to have the other."

"Never apart," said Remy, smiling at something Mr. Weasley had once said.

THE END.

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**hope it wasn't a flop. Please review me. Please? *does puppy dog eyes but it ends up repelling reviewers rather than drawing them in, so composes normal facial expression* **

**Love you all, cheerio. tune in for the sequel I'll get around to writing eventually. **

**xx**


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